Without a Trace
by SweetDeamon
Summary: Teddy awakes ready to return to Hogwarts after Christmas only to find Tonks is not there to take him to Kings Cross, leaving his many questions for her unanswered. His confusion grows back at school when Remus too disappears from the castle... AU RLNT
1. A Less Than Perfect Christmas

_Note: Hello everybody! This is __**Without a Trace**__, the third story in the __**Blood**__ 'ficverse, set just after the events of __**Lies and Letters**__, however as with Lies and Letters it can stand alone. All you need to know is that Remus and Tonks survived the final battle, Remus is teaching at Hogwards and Tonks is Head of Aurors. Orion Lynch and Chester Burton may well appear in this fic as they did with the previous two – Orion essentially being to Teddy what Draco was to Harry and Chester being Teddy's best friend. Thanks in advance to anybody who leaves me reviews, I very much appreciate your time and comments. I know I have not completed Lies and Letters yet, but this idea grabbed me and I wanted to write it down! I will be completing Lies and Letter soon enough, and this fic does not contain any spoilers for it! So there you have it! Time to begin… _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J K Rowling does._

**1: A Less Than Perfect Christmas**

Night had fallen, shrouding the living room of the Lupin household in darkness that was broken only by the soft flicker of lamplight beside the single occupied armchair. The whole house was quiet and the peaceful atmosphere was something that Remus Lupin had not had the pleasure of experiencing for some time. He smiled at the sound of nothing at all, before reaching to retrieve a large black leather bound book from the coffee table before him. As he glanced at the neat gold letters upon the cover that comprised the title: _Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes_, the silence was disturbed by a series of soft bumps coming from the stairs. Remus opened the book and glanced down at the message carefully written by hand under the printed title.

_Happy Christmas, Dad! This books is awesome, it has loads of really old spells people have forgotten about. You'll have to teach me some of them when we go back to Hogwarts, then I can shock Chester at Duelling Club! Love from Teddy x_

Remus raised an eyebrow at the notion that his son expected him to teach him to bewitch his fellow students, before turning the page and glancing down at the list of contents. Though it had been a full week since he had received this gift he had been so busy that he had not had time to sit and look at it properly. Why they called it the Christmas _Holiday_, Remus could not for the life of him imagine. He was about to turn the page again when the slow rhythmic bumping sound from the stairs out in the hallways ended abruptly, and there came an alarmingly loud crash, followed by a startled:

"_Daaaaaaaad_!"

Remus closed the book with a snap, dropped it to the floor beside his chair, and pulled himself to his feet before hurrying out into the hallway. There he was met with the sight of a large trunk lying open upon its side, clothes, books, parchment, quills, and a shattered glass bottle that was seeping bright blue ink out onto the recently cleaned cream carpet. In the middle of the destruction a boy with bright turquoise coloured hair lay sprawled, looking forlornly up at the wizard who visibly grimaced.

"I tripped." The boy mumbled, cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment.

Remus' eyes came to rest upon the bright stein blooming upon the carpet with a small sigh. He'd told his wife that cream was a bad colour, he recalled with a sigh. It showed the dirt…

"Up you get," he said, offering his son a hand before pulling him to his feet. "Any life threatening injuries?"

"I don't think so," Teddy told him, rolling up a sleeve and examining a bruise that was beginning to blossom upon his elbow. "Just a bump or two."

Remus reached into his pocket and drew out his wand, preparing to clear up the mess. A frown creased his brow as he glanced at his son's feet.

"And what lesson have we learnt from our near-fatal tumble, Theodore?" he asked dryly as Teddy rubbed his elbow with a frown of his own.

"That Mum should've been more careful with which genes she chose to pass on to me?" he guessed, causing his father to snigger.

"No," Remus said, raising his wand. "The lesson is that it is terribly foolish to carry heavy trunks down staircases when we do not bother to _tie our shoelaces_!" He gave his wand a flick and Teddy stumbled slightly as his shoelaces suddenly pulled themselves tight before tying themselves together in two neat, secure knots.

"Yeah…sorry Dad," the boy mumbled, crouching down and beginning to gather his belongings together again.

"You can't blame your own stupidity on genetics, Teddy, it's unfair on your mother," Remus told him, amused as he caused the trunk to right itself and began to levitate objects back inside.

"How can it be unfair on her when she isn't even here to think it's unfair?" Teddy asked, and his tone was suddenly much darker than it had been before.

As a pile of books finished stacking themselves neatly into one corner of the trunk Remus shot his son a warning look.

"She'll be home within the hour, Teddy." He reasoned, but Teddy merely shrugged.

"Yeah, she'll walk in the door just in time for me to say goodnight and go to bed! It's been the same for the whole holiday, in fact it's been worse, she didn't come home at all the other night…"

"Teddy…"

"…It's like being a single parent family or something! It's the Christmas holidays for Merlin's sake, this was my last day at home!"

"I know you're upset Teddy, but there isn't much she can do about it. I've taken you to watch Quidditch, we've been to Harry's, we've not had such a bad time, have we?"

"Yeah but I see you all the time!" Teddy complained, dumping his belongings into the trunk with much more force than was necessary. When his father appeared to have nothing to say to this, the boy immediately felt regretful. He straightened up to find his father running a hand through his greying hair as if he were terribly tired. "Sorry Dad, I didn't mean…I mean…we had a great time and everything but it's just not the same without Mum, 'cos I only really get to see her during the holidays…whereas I'll see you practically every day when we're back at Hogwarts."

"I know," his father assured him quietly, giving his wand one last wide sweeping motion causing the remaining items to fly into the trunk, the lid closing with a click. "I know this hasn't been the perfect Christmas, but I'm sure we'll make up for it during the summer. We'll go abroad or something…"

"Really?!" Teddy's heart gave a leap at the prospect of a proper summer holiday, something that he had experienced only rarely, again because of his mother's time consuming job as Head of the Auror Department.

"I'm sure we can work something out." Remus told him, though he did not sound too certain. "If all else fails we can pack you off to France with Bill and family, I'm sure they would take you."

At such a promise Teddy's mood instantly brightened, though as he heard the distinct crack of apparation outside as his mother arrived home from work, he couldn't help but find it surprising that Tonks was working such long hours during the festive season, and he told his father so.

"What's going on, anyway?" he asked as Remus cleaned the stain from the carpet with a muttered _scourgify_. "Anyone would think Voldemort was back again or something!"

His father scowled at this rather tactless comment as he went to open the door.

"I'm just saying!" Teddy protested, folding his arms, his mood back with vengeance. "You said it yourself the other night, nobody's had to work such long hours since the War!"

"I don't know what's going on, Teddy." Remus told him frankly as he pulled the door open.

"Yes you do!" Teddy cried in frustration, but had no opportunity to argue any further for his mother had just stumbled over the threshold, scarlet Auror robes in disarray and dark circles under her eyes. As she practically fell into her husband's arms, muttering a long series of incoherent complaints into his jumper, Teddy watched his father smile as he said:

"I'll run you a bath, shall I?"

"Please," Tonks agreed, also smiling through her fatigue. "It's like being newly married again!" she commented brightly as he let go of her and headed towards the stairs. "Your answer to everything back then was a hot bath!"

"Actually I think you'll find you suggested it more often than I did. Besides, it's good for sore muscles."

Tonks' eyebrow rose suggestively as she corrected:

"No, _you're_ good for sore muscles!"

Teddy, appalled, opened his mouth to remind her that he was in fact stood just in front of her, but his father spoke before he could get the chance.

"But a bath is equally as good." Remus paused at the bottom of the stairs as Tonks traipsed over to hang her cloak up upon it's vacant hook. Whilst Teddy strained to push his trunk up against the wall, the boy could have sworn he heard his father say in an undertone: _ten minutes_, causing Tonks to snigger. The boy rolled his eyes in exasperation as his father began to climb the stairs and his mother turned round to face him, positively grinning.

"Hey Teddy!" she greeted, holding her arms out wide. "Where's my hug?!"

Teddy hurried over and obligingly threw his arms around her.

"So did you and Dad have fun today?" she asked him when they let go of one another and she led the way into the kitchen.

"Yeah, we went to see the 'Wasps play."

"Did they win?"

"Yeah, by a mile."

"Cool! You want hot chocolate? We could steal Dad's stash of marshmallows."

As Teddy nodded he watched her grab a pair of mugs from the cupboard, pausing before bellowing:

"Remus?! D'you want some hot chocolate?!"

At the sound of her husband's muffled response from the bathroom upstairs, she shrugged and grabbed a third mug anyway before setting about making the drinks.

"We went to Harry's, he was still at work but Ginny let me try out his new broom." Teddy continued, pulling open another cupboard and extracting the bag of marshmallows. "It was the best broom ever! It was so fast!"

"Really? Is it the brand new one that came out just before Christmas?"

"Yep! It's really cool!"

Tonks grinned as they heard Remus' footsteps as he descended the stairs.

"Typical Harry, that is!" she declared, reaching for the marshmallows and dropping one in each mug. "He'd have a new broom every week if Ginny would let him!"

"It was Christmas, Dora." Remus reminded her, having caught the end of the conversation as he entered the room. "Besides, you're just as bad! Don't pretend even half of those shoes in the closet belong to anybody other than yourself!"

Tonks swatted him on the arm before handing over a mug, before handing a second to Teddy. As they began to bicker about the size of her shoe collection, which Teddy had to admit was rather on the large side, they moved to sit around the table upon which sat Remus' discarded Evening Prophet. Teddy looked to glance at the headlines, only for Tonks to snatch the paper up, almost spilling her hot chocolate in her haste to do so.

"You read this?" she asked Remus, and at his nod she said: "Don't leave it lying around then!"

Teddy frowned at such an instruction that was usually reserved for him, as she marched over and deposited the paper into the bin. The boy could not recall his mother making such demands to his father, on the rare occasion that he had been the one to leave something lying about, without saying please or phrasing them as more of a request. _Could you wash those cups up, love? Could you move those books from the table? Please don't leave that out, I'll only trip over it_. He watched his father take a seat opposite him and wondered if he was at all disgruntled by how she had spoken to him, but his expression hinted at remorse rather than irritation. In fact, Teddy mused, Remus looked far too guilty for one who had merely forgotten to discard a newspaper. It was, the boy decided, downright strange.

They sat drinking their hot chocolate and Tonks insisted upon hearing a blow by blow account of the Quidditch match that the other two had watched that afternoon. Teddy found himself forced to give an account alone, for Remus claimed he did not remember what the final score had been. Teddy was sure that he had not paid the game any real attention at all, for Remus had never much been interested in Quidditch. His interest extended as far as to attend Gryffindor's matches for the benefit of his son who was a beater on the team. On such occasions he was enthusiastic enough for half of the Gryffindor students put together, but when goaded into taking Teddy to watch professional matches Teddy discovered that he had about as much enthusiasm for Quidditch as Orion Lynch had for werewolves.

"What did you do today, Mum?" Teddy asked some while later once he had finished telling his mother about the 'Wasps' victory.

Tonks yawned widely before shrugging.

"All the usual boring stuff." She told him with a smile.

"Did you arrest anybody?"

"We did."

"How many?"

"Just the one."

"How? Did you ambush him or something cool like that?"

"Nah, afraid not," Tonks chuckled, before yawning again. "Spent most of the day chasing the crazy bastard halfway across Wales…"

"Dora…"

"Sorry, but he had us traipsing halfway through a swamp, it was a nightmare, filthy! Speaking of which, I think I'll go get that bath." And with that Tonks rose to her feet and headed towards the hallway, Teddy frowning as she went.

"What exactly _is_ Mum doing at work at the moment, Dad?" he asked, not for the first time that day. To his irritation Remus merely shrugged.

"Chasing dark wizards around Wales, it seems."

"Yeah, but I mean what is she really doing? Like who is she trying to catch?"

Remus rose to his feet, his expression unreadable.

"Probably the same dark wizard she was chasing around Wales." He mused unhelpfully, smiling at his son's clear irritation. "Now, we've got to be up early in the morning! So I think you better head off to bed."

Teddy could tell that he would not be getting any answers from either of his parents that night, and so he obediently headed off to bed, promising himself that he would try and ask his mother again in the morning when she took him to King's Cross station so that he could return to Hogwarts. It was determined to find out what had caused her to miss so much of his Christmas holiday.

What Teddy did not realise was after Tonks had come to kiss him goodnight some half an hour later, wrapped in her fluffy pink dressing gown and smelling of soaps and perfumes, he had missed out on his final opportunity to ask her all of his burning questions.

Nor did he realise that her whispered _Night Teddy love_ would be the last he would hear from her for a very long while.


	2. A Disturbed Night

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J K Rowling does._

**2: A Disturbed Night**

That night Teddy struggled to sleep. He stared through the darkness at the wall opposite him, squinting at the wallpaper and counting the stripes. It had been the worst Christmas holiday ever, he decided glumly, and with each day that had passed he had become increasingly convinced that something just wasn't right with his parents. He no longer accepted their dismissive comments about his mother's long hours at work. There was something strange going on there, he was sure of it, something was wrong, _very_ wrong indeed. He saw it on his father's face when they played at Exploding Snap and chatted over lunch each day. Remus would listen and speak to him and yet Teddy was sure that his mind was on something else entirely. There was something worrying the professor, the boy mused as he stared up at the ceiling. It was clear in his eyes, often they seemed to glaze over and he would become lost in thought for long minutes, then he would sigh heavily and shake his head. Teddy had caught him pacing up and down in the kitchen on several occasions and when he stopped to lean casually against the counter he would rock uneasily back and forth upon his heels. Teddy found this all rather unnerving, for usually his father was quite possibly the calmest and most laid back person in the world.

Tonks was little better, that much was clear even from their brief moments together each morning and evening. She seemed to hug him far more often than normal, Teddy recalled, and he was forever bemused by her new found need to constantly tell him how much she loved him. It was not that he disliked such declarations, they were nice, he supposed, but to hear them so frequently was a bit on the excessive side and, Teddy admitted as he shifted to try and get more comfortable under the duvet, frankly downright _strange_. When together his parents seemed to act relatively normally, but they were keen to send him to bed promptly each night, and spent evenings huddled around the kitchen table, clutching each others hands across the surface as if they feared they were about to be torn apart, speaking in hushed, dark tones that immediately brightened when Teddy entered the room.

Yes, Teddy concluded worriedly. There was something wrong.

At 1:23am, according to the quietly ticking alarm clock beside his bed, Teddy heard a door open out on the landing followed by soft footsteps as somebody, Remus he imagined from the pace, headed down the stairs to get a drink. Teddy listened to hear his father returning to bed, but he heard nothing for ten long minutes. Then he heard the door to his parents' bedroom open again and a second set of footsteps as Tonks too made her way down the stairs. There then followed an even longer period of silence as neither parent returned to bed.

After over half an hour Teddy's curiosity got the better of him and he got out of bed and crept out onto the landing, listening for any signs of movement downstairs. The house was deathly quiet and, feeling more curios than ever, the boy made his way down the stairs, careful to avoid the final step that he knew always creaked. The door to the living room was ajar and he could hear hushed voices and the sound of somebody pouring a drink into a glass coming from within. Creeping to the door, Teddy peered into the room, holding his breath in his attempt to stay quiet. The small lamp beside his father's armchair had been lit, bathing the scene before him in a soft golden glow. Remus was sat slouched in the chair, bottle of Firewhisky balanced precariously between his knees, a generous glassful of the amber liquid held in one hand. Teddy found the sight alarmingly familiar to one of the memories he had witnessed in the Pensieve before Christmas; a bitter and restless Sirius Black sat in the drawing room of the Order's Headquarters, mocking his best friend and cousin about their plans for Valentine's Day. Teddy shuddered at the thought, grimacing further when Remus downed the glass in two large gulps and set about refilling it. Tonks was stood studying the books in the nearby bookcase absentmindedly, trailing a finger along the spines. She paused and turned to look at her husband when he announced:

"I can't help it, Dora. I'm going to say it."

Teddy watched her turn on her heel to look at Remus, arms folded firmly across her chest as if daring him to continue. Unwisely, Teddy guessed, he chose to do so anyway.

"I can't stand your job." He told her bluntly.

Teddy, who knew full well just how much his mother adored her job and refused to hear a word against it, cringed in anticipation of the fury that was no doubt about to be unleashed upon his father for such a frank confession. But to his surprise Tonks let out a quiet chuckle as she walked to stand just in front his father and reached to pluck the glass from his hand.

"You have to substitute good old fashioned Gryffindor courage for the liquid kind in order to say that to me?" she asked, grabbing the bottle too and depositing them both on the coffee table. She perched on the arm of the chair and wrapped one arm around his shoulders, other hand coming to rest upon his knee.

"I spend all day on edge," Remus complained, hand resting on top of hers as his head came to rest against her side. "I know things like this happen often enough, but I can't help it, I really can't, it makes me anxious and restless, and I keeping wondering how much longer I can go on pretending all is well because it is hard enough staying at home with Teddy, I'll be back at work tomorrow, how in Merlin's name am I to keep it up then?" When Tonks merely pressed a firm kiss to his temple, grip on him tightening he sighed heavily. "What am I saying anyway?" he mumbled, thumb scuffing her hand as she remained silent. "It's so much worse for you and yet I sit here and complain about the time I've been having."

"I dunno, I think we both have it equally as bad," Tonks reasoned. "I mean I'd hate to be stuck having to pretend nothing's happening like you are, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. I'd go mad!"

"Just promise me you'll be extra careful."

"Remus we've gone over this a hundred times…"

"Promise me, Dora."

"I'm always careful, you know that!"

"I know, but you still need to be extra careful."

Tonks gave a small sigh, but smiled nevertheless.

"Constant Vigilance!" she quoted, sniggering at the infamous phrase, but Remus only said:

"_Exactly_."

"Merlin you're getting paranoid!" Tonks accused, leaning to retrieve the glass of firewhiskey from the coffee table.

"I know," Remus agreed, exasperated by the truth in her words. "I know and it's ridiculous of me."

Teddy felt relieved to hear this confession of melodrama, but was alarmed when Tonks quietly replied:

"No it's not. It feel almost like we're at war again, except we're older and have more to loose and so we struggle to push emotion to the back of our minds."

"Don't," Remus muttered, frowning at the notion. "It's nothing like it, not even close…" he trailed off into silence when Tonks shifted closer to him and admitted:

"I feel afraid…sometimes…"

"There's nothing wrong with that." Remus told her, reaching to smooth her dishevelled hair reassuringly. "We just need to try to carry on as normal. It'll all blow over soon enough."

"Yeah," she agreed, suddenly sounding far more sure of herself. "Ex-Order members like us, it should be a breeze!" she took a sip of firewhisky before offering it to him, but he shook his head.

"You finish it," he said with a smile. "I've had at least one too many as it is."

"Alcoholic," she teased, before draining the glass and reaching to put it back on the table.

"It'll make me sleep." He reasoned, gripping her arm as she narrowly avoided toppling off of the arm of the chair.

"Is that what you'll tell Minerva when she catches you knocking them back in your office?"

"Of course not!" he cried, giving her a playful shove on the arm before adding roguishly, "I'm much too subtle for her to find out."

Tonks got to her feet, giggling as she stooped to retrieve the heavy black book that lay upon the floor beside the chair.

"You're gonna have your work cut out teaching Teddy this lot!" she commented, flicking through the pages with an amused smile.

"I'm not entirely sure if that is a wise idea." Remus muttered, though he too grinned as he stood up and reached to put his arms around his wife, looking down at the book over her shoulder.

"I tried to explain to him how dodgy some of these old spells can be and how there would be no chance in hell that you'd agree to teach them to him, but he insisted on buying it for you anyway."

"That's probably because that doesn't rule out him attempting them for himself."

Tonks' eyes widened as she paused upon a page and read a few lines.

"Merlin, you better make a point of forbidding him to do that!" she breathed, pointing at whatever had alarmed her so much.

"That probably won't help." Remus said with a frown. "He's the son of a Marauder, curiosity and disobedience are in his blood."

"You always say he's well behaved at school."

"Mostly, yes, but he does seem to have developed a taste for sneaking around and breaking into my office when I'm not around." The frown upon Remus' brow deepened as he mused: "Maybe I should insist he gives the Map back to me, that way it'll be harder for him next time."

Tonks laughed, turning another page and running her eyes down the text.

"You could always set wards on the book." She suggested. "Or remember the wards on your office for once in your life, like every other sensible teacher! I wouldn't worry anyway, this is pretty advanced stuff, I doubt a third year would get far with it."

As they continued to examine the book, Teddy backed away from the door, head swimming with questions about what they had been talking about, why had his mother felt the need to be afraid, why did his father have to pretend all was well, what exactly had happened to make him so unhappy with Tonks' job? Teddy stood lost in thought at the bottom of the stairs for a long minute, only to be snapped back to reality by the sound of his mother's laughter.

"I should buy you Firewhisky more often!" he heard her exclaim through her laughter. "Makes you lethargic, you're easier to tease!"

Remus' reply was too muffled for Teddy to hear, but Tonks laughed even more at whatever had been said. He did however hear Tonks suggesting that, since Remus appeared to have achieved the slightly inebriated state he had been aiming for in order to coax himself into getting a few hours sleep that night, they probably ought go back to bed because they needed to be up early to catch Teddy's train. At the sound of their approaching footsteps Teddy hurried to hide in the kitchen. Shivering at the sensation of bare feet on cool kitchen tiles, he listened to their slow ascent of the stairs. He decided to wait a few minutes before going back to bed himself, just to make sure they didn't catch him. As he gazed aimlessly around the kitchen his eyes came to rest upon the rubbish bin and he recalled Tonks' odd behaviour earlier with the newspaper. Teddy wandered over and opened the lid, staring down at the crumpled Evening Prophet as it lay amongst the family's discarded rubbish. Face contorting in disgust, Teddy reached into the bin, careful to avoid the remains of the pasta that had constituted dinner for Remus and himself, though looking back on it, Teddy thought, Remus had done little more than move it around his plate. He picked up the newspaper and, wiping off the tomato sauce from one dog-eared corner, moved towards the kitchen table to have a read.

_THREATENED HEAD OF AURORS REFUSES TO BE INTIMIDATED _

_The Ministry has today released an official statement from the Head of the Auror Department, Nymphadora Lupin, following the disturbing rumours that surfaced two weeks ago after the arrest and imprisonment of runaway Death Eater Thorfinn Rowle. Within days of making the arrest of Rowle, who had evaded capture since the Battle of Hogwarts, sources informed the Prophet that Mrs. Lupin had received a number of death threats against both herself and her family. In the statement, Mrs. Lupin, a former member of the Order of the Phoenix, said that though the threats were deeply upsetting for all concerned she and her husband were relatively unfazed by the threats._

"_You get this sort of thing a lot in my line of work," she told reporters outside of the Ministry of Magic this morning. "Of course we must make a point of being alert and cautious in light of the current situation, but my husband and I feel that it is important to continue life as normal. We have lived through a war during which we were both prime targets for Death Eaters and the corrupt government of the day, and as such we do not pander to intimidation of any kind." _

_The Lupins' resolve to go about life as usual appears to be set in stone as on Christmas Eve Professor Lupin, teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School and himself a former Order member, was seen dropping off their son Theodore at the house of a family friend earlier this week. When approached and asked to comment on the threats made against him, the professor insisted that as distressing as the whole business was, he had no intention of allowing Christmas with his family to be spoilt. When asked what plans he had for his son considering recent events, Professor Lupin mirrored his wife's assertion that routine was the key. _

"_My wife and I will not hesitate to send Theodore back to school at the end of the holidays," he said. "Hogwarts is the safest place for him and it is important that he does not fall behind other students in his year." Professor Lupin refused to comment any further about his son, but did confirm that he too would return to Hogwarts once the festive season was over. There has yet to have been reports detailing the precise nature of the threats made against the family, nor has the Auror Department made any announcements regarding the perpetrators, though Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt is said to be set on tracking those responsible down as swiftly as possible. The Minister is known to be a close friend of the Lupin family as well as many other families connected to the Order of the Phoenix, including that of Harry Potter. Speaking of the Order upon his appointment as Minister of Magic a number of years ago, Mr. Shacklebolt spoke of the continued sense of comradeship between the members:_

"_The Order of the Phoenix is essentially one big extended family. Although officially it no longer exists its members and their families share very strong bonds that will no doubt last a lifetime."_

_It would appear that the Order has, true to the Minister's word, rallied around the Lupins. Aurors Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley have noticeably increased their hours at work, whilst sources within Hogwarts School report that Headmistress Minerva McGonagall has offered Professor Lupin temporary leave of his post should he require it at any time. _

_Such serious threats have been very rare indeed since the Battle of Hogwarts that saw the end of the War, and the wizarding community waits for news of any developments in the Ministry's investigation_.

By the time he had finished reading this startling report, Teddy found that he felt bemused rather than horrified. How on earth could such a thing have really happened and he not hear a word about it?

But then he began to cast his mind back over the past few weeks and it became apparent that his parents had clearly been careful to ensure that he did not get wind of the troubling events. With the exception of that evening Teddy could not recall seeing a single newspaper in the house, though he knew that his father had both the Daily and Evening Prophet delivered every day. Each time Teddy had chosen to turn on the wireless in the living room he had been told to turn it off, his father had a headache, his mother wanted to talk to him about something or other, he should go and tidy his bedroom. Not once had he left the house on his own, either. Remus had escorted him everywhere, refusing to take him to Diagon Alley more than once very briefly, and rushing him through the crowds in and out of the Quidditch stadium: avoiding anybody who might give the game away. When the post arrived each morning his mother would jump to her feet and dash to fetch it before he could offer to do so himself. At the shock realisation that his parents had in fact gone to long lengths to protect him from the frightening truth, Teddy felt panic erupt through him like the Hogwarts Express speeding through a tunnel. Quite suddenly the cold, dim kitchen seemed terribly ominous and he found himself with a mad urge to bolt back upstairs and plead with his parents to let him sleep in their bed for the night, together, protected and safe.

_Pull yourself together_, a voice inside his head demanded. _If it were really so bad they would have had to tell you about it because you'd all be going into hiding_!

Teddy shuddered at the very idea, but felt himself calming slightly. He took a series of deep, relaxing breaths and resolved to go to bed and ask his mother to explain things in the morning. Surely they meant to tell him something at some point, for he would hear all sorts when back at school, he mused as he crept out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Or perhaps, his more apprehensive side considered, they had not thought the threat all that serious and had expected it to be gone by the time the holidays were over…

When he finally climbed into bed again some minutes later, Teddy's brief calm had evaporated and the fear was back with vengeance. He pulled the duvet up over his head, shielding himself from the darkness of his bedroom and tried best to go to sleep. How long he lay there staring into the black of his eyelids he did not know, but his unease continued to build up as his imagination ran away with him. When he heard a noise outside of his bedroom, he gasped in horror and, hand clamped over his mouth, nails digging into his cheek in apprehension, he listened hard….

_THUD_!

Terror overcame him and, eyes screwed shut Teddy let the hand fall from his mouth and hollered:

"_Mum_!!! _Dad_!!!"

And then he clamped his hands over his ears, waiting for his salvation.

It was some minutes before the duvet was pulled from his head and he opened his eyes only to be momentarily blinded by the sight of his father's lit wand.

"Teddy…?" Remus reached to rest a reassuring hand on his shoulder and Teddy glanced past him out into the dark, empty hallway.

"Where's Mum?!" he demanded, attempting to sit up to see more clearly, but Remus' grip upon his shoulder tightened, holding him in place.

"She's just this second left for the Ministry, Kingsley sent his patronus…"

"No! No, she can't go, don't let her, Dad, don't let her!"

"She'll be back in time to take you to the station…" Remus told him calmly, though he frowned at the franticness of his son's voice.

"Go and get her back!" Teddy pleaded, gripping the front of his father's faded pyjamas hysterically. She can't leave us! It isn't safe!"

For the briefest of seconds a look passed over Remus' features that suggested he would indeed jump up and run after his wife, but as soon as it was there it was gone again. He reached to straighten Teddy's pillows and rearranged the duvet.

"Did you have a nightmare, Teddy?" he asked gently, and Teddy barely restrained himself from blurting all that he knew. He would not, he decided quickly, he would not, could not admit to what he knew. It would only upset his parents further.

"Yeah…I did." He decided, and Remus nodded understandingly.

"What was it about?" the werewolf asked, settling himself on the edge of the bed.

"I…You and Mum…I lost you…" he mumbled, before drawing in a deep breath and saying: "Death Eaters got you!"

Remus nodded again and reached to pat him reassuring on the shoulder.

"Well that can't possibly happen. For one thing the Death Eaters no longer really exist. I know we refer to them often enough, but with Voldemort dead they have crumbled."

"But…but not all of them were caught after the Battle, the Ministry are still looking for a few of them, right? What about them? They might…might do something!"

Remus was silent for a long moment, staring at Teddy thoughtfully and the boy couldn't help but feel that he had seen the truth behind the words. He was convinced that Remus guessed he knew something, but the father refused to acknowledge his clear suspicion for he said:

"There are so few of them, Teddy, I can't possibly see them coming after anybody, let alone the Head of the Auror Department. If I were them I certainly wouldn't pick fights with your mother, she is much too fine a dueller and she has an entire force of Aurors behind her." He grinned as he added: "Besides, her stinging jinxes are particularly painful."

"What about you?" Teddy asked, and Remus shrugged dismissively, reaching to tuck the duvet more firmly about the child.

"Teddy," he said as he took hold of his son's hand reassuringly. "In all my years since I first joined the Order I have had countless run-ins with Death Eaters and though on occasion I got hurt, I can't say they ever injured me severely enough that I could have died because of it."

"You're too skilled for them." Teddy concluded, feeling a surge of pride in his father's ability.

"Admittedly some of us are better duellers than others, yes, but I wouldn't ever assume I were any better than them. However where the Death Eaters have fallen the Order has stayed strong. I daresay if I were to send for any former members they would come within the blink of an eye, though I don't imagine for a moment I would ever need to! So, we are all perfectly safe." With that the werewolf rose to his feet. "Now get some sleep," he told hisson who now felt far more relaxed. "You'll need to be up nice and early to help me drag your mother out of bed, I daresay she'll be exhausted by the time she gets back."

"Night Dad." Teddy called as Remus headed towards the door.

"Goodnight Teddy."

"Dad…?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

The light of Remus' wand went out as he replied:

"I love you too. Sweet dreams."

The next morning Teddy was awoken by his alarm clock and, despite his lack of sleep, the boy was quick to get out of bed. He padded out of his room and banged a fist on the door of his parents' bedroom.

"Rise and shine!" he called through the white painted wood. "Quick Mum, else I'm gonna steal the bathroom!"

When no response came from within Teddy sighed and pushed the door open.

"Mum, Dad?" he called questioningly, only to find the room vacant, bed already made. He was impressed that Tonks had managed to get out of bed so early, for though he had not fallen asleep for a long while once Remus had left him that night, he had not heard her return. She must have been gone for ages, he mused as he wandered down the stairs, mouth watering at the smell of fried bacon and eggs, the customary breakfast before returning to school.

"I can't believe Dad got you out of bed!" Teddy cried as he entered the kitchen to find his father stood before the stove. "You were gone ages…" he trailed off at the sight of the empty seats around the dining table. As Remus turned to look at him, Teddy frowned deeply. "Where's Mum?" he asked, and Remus was quick to turn his attention back to the bacon.

"She…had to work." He mumbled, depositing the bacon onto the waiting plate. It was, Teddy noted, burnt to a crisp.

"Why?" the boy asked, feeling instantly hurt. His mother had always accompanied him to the station.

"Sit down," his father instructed quietly, as if he had not heard the question. "Breakfast's ready."

There was something strangely fragile about the composed expression upon Remus' face, and so Teddy obediently went and sat down at the table.

"You having some, Dad?" he asked when Remus set the plate down before him.

"No, I'm not particularly hungry."

Teddy stabbed at the yolk of his friend egg and watched it dribble out over the white.

"Did…did Mum even come home at all last night?" he asked, and Remus turned on his heel and headed towards the kitchen sink, reaching for the frying pan and dumping it into the sink.

"I'm sure she did, she said she would do after all."

"So she came back to bed, then?"

"Probably."

"What d'you mean probably? You share a bed, surely you would notice whether she did or not!"

"I was asleep. Fast asleep."

Frowning deeply, Teddy opened his mouth to ask another question, but Remus said:

"Hurry up and eat, Teddy, you still need to get dressed and we don't have that long."

And with that the professor left the room, muttering about mislaying something upstairs.


	3. A Policy of Honesty

_Note: Hello, remember me? Probably not, it's been ages..._

_Sorry to anybody who was waiting for an update, the computer I was writing this chapter on broke and I was waiting to see if it could be retrieved. It couldn't, so I have had to start from scratch! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J K Rowling owns it all. _

**3: A Policy of Honesty**

Teddy watched his father lock the front door, with a look of bemusement at the countless muttered spells and wand movements.

"How many wards do we need?!" he asked impatiently, exasperated, at what he thought was severe paranoia. But something inside of him made Teddy's stomach jolt uncomfortably – things were bad indeed if Remus thought all this was necessary, the child thought worriedly.

At last Remus lead the way down the garden path, dragging Teddy's trunk behind him with one hand, the other inside his coat pocket where he had put his wand. They made their way down the deserted street towards the apparation point in an alleyway, away from the prying eyes of muggles. They halted just inside it's entrance and stood staring at the dustbins and crushed cardboard boxes that adorned the ground.

"Well?" Teddy asked after a sizeable pause. "What are we waiting for?"

"Harry owled this morning," Remus told him, tapping his fingers upon the trunk behind him impatiently. "Amongst...other things, he promised to come to Kings Cross with us, since your mother is...busy."

"Oh...that's cool," Teddy mumbled, but he felt a sense of dread creeping up on him. So, he needed an Auror to escort him to the station, he mused. Things had to be more than bad, they had to be _terrible_. Suddenly the gloomy alley seemed horribly foreboding. The boy shifted a little closer to his father's side. He wished they could go home.

"He's rather late," Remus observed. "He said he'd be right here..."

No sooner had the words left Remus' mouth there came the distinctive crack of somebody apparating. Teddy jumped, but the alleyway was still empty. Whoever it was must have appeared somewhere nearby.

"Dad..." Teddy said, voice dropping to a whisper, though he wasn't sure why. "Harry knows to always use the alley, doesn't he?"

"_Sh_!" the werewolf hissed, turning on his heel to face the street. "Be quiet..."

Teddy could hear footsteps.

"Dad...?" he whimpered, heart hammering in his chest.

"Get against the wall." Remus told him, sounding relatively calm. He had drawn his wand.

"What's happening..."

"_Now_, Teddy!" Remus gave him a firm push towards the wall.

The footsteps were getting closer....

"Don't move." Remus instructed, and with that he flattened himself up against the wall at Teddy's side, waiting.

The footsteps were slow – a casual stroll or a cautious creep? Teddy held his breath. A shadow loomed around the corner. And with that Remus leapt from his hiding place, wand thrust forward, only for his chosen spell to die on his lips as he found the tip of his wand pointing directly at the throat of one Harry James Potter.

For one stunned moment the two wizards merely stared at one another. Harry slowly held his hands up and raised an eyebrow in mock-defeat. Remus lowered his wand.

"As if you need my help!" Teddy heard the black haired Auror mutter with a grin. "Sorry to sneak up on you, Remus, Ginny was calling after me, James was screaming, I lost concentration and ended up on that muggle's doorstep over there." He made a vague hand gesture over his shoulder.

"No problem, Harry," Remus sounded relieved. "Thank you for coming."

Harry greeted Teddy cheerfully, but Teddy barely had time to reply as Remus took hold of his arm and the three of them, plus Teddy's trunk, disappeared with a crack.

They did not take the usual route to the station, Teddy noted. Instead they left the busy main streets and took a "short cut", as Harry called it, through a park. This only managed to panic Teddy more than ever. He couldn't stand it any longer, he had to know what was going on, how much danger there was, what was the true cause of it...

He stopped dead before a park bench and folded his arms across his chest.

"This is all to make sure the Death Eaters don't get me, isn't it?" he stated bluntly.

Remus and Harry stopped walking, the werewolf's shoulders visibly tensed. They glanced at one another before turning around the face the boy.

"What d'you mean, "so the Death Eaters don't get you"?" Harry asked with a deep frown. "I thought you liked parks, Teddy..."

An eruption of frustrated anger burst through him as Teddy scowled at his godfather's words. How could they pretend to know nothing?! How could they continue to be so secretive when their far too obvious plans were causing panic to cripple his nerves and leave him afraid and in the dark?!

"I read the paper!" He threw the revelation at them, triumphant at the sight of Harry's eyes widening and Remus' gaze dropping miserably to the floor in failure. Just to be extra clear Teddy added: "I took it out of the bin!" He dropped down onto the bench, glowering at the stunned pair of liars and announced: "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!"

There was silence, broken only the the sound of rustling trees and a bird singing, as the two adults glanced at one another again.

"Well..." Harry said, his eyes pitying. "I'll...I'll leave you to it, shall I?" And with that he grabbed hold of Teddy's trunk and wheeled it off up the path, whistling to himself loudly.

Teddy watched Remus sigh heavily, reaching to rub his eyes before he slowly came to sit down beside his son upon the bench. Father and son sat in silence for a long moment, before Teddy asked:

"What's going on, Dad? Why couldn't Mum come with us today? Who's threatening her? Is it the Death Eaters? Why now? What's she done..."

"One question at a time, Teddy." Remus interrupted, leaning back in his seat as if settling down for a long conversation.

"Fine, who's after us?" Teddy held his breath, hoping that at last somebody was going to be honest with him.

"I don't know who's after us." Remus admitted rather unhelpfully, but he held Teddy's gaze and the child was sure that this was the truth. "Nobody is quite sure yet, the Aurors are working on it, though."

"D'you think it's Death Eaters?" Teddy asked worriedly, biting his lip in anticipation of the answer.

"Well...former Death Eaters, perhaps..." Remus said cautiously. "Of course there actually aren't any proper Death Eaters these days, not now Voldemort is gone. We don't have much to fear from them, not when they are no longer united."

"How do you know they aren't?" Teddy interrupted. "I mean technically the Order of the Phoenix has been disbanded and no longer exists, but you would all band together if you thought it necessary, right?"

"Of course we would. But the Death Eaters aren't like us, Teddy, they were bound together by loyalty to Voldemort, not loyalty to one another. They have no interest in others, only themselves as individuals."

"So...it's not them, then?"

Remus shrugged.

"It might be them, it might not be, but if it is you must remember that without Voldemort they are a different sort of enemy."

"Right. So why would these people...whoever they are...want to threaten Mum?"

"We don't know that for sure yet, either. But this all started after Rowle was arrested, so it would be logical to assume it has something to do with that."

"And this is why Mum is at work all the time, right?"

"That's right."

"Is she at the Ministry at the moment?"

There was a long pause as Remus' gaze dropped to the ground.

"I...hope so. I don't know where she is, I've not heard from her since she left home last night."

"But Kingsley or somebody has, right?"

Again there was silence.

"I'm sure they have." Remus said at last, though he didn't sound certain.

Teddy felt his mouth go dry and he hurriedly asked another question:

"Why would they threaten you and me too?"

Remus' expression was positively grim.

"Because they know where to hit your mother where it hurts the most." he said, and Teddy noticed that his hand had balled into a fist.

Teddy tried to keep his head down as he followed his father up the platform towards the waiting Hogwarts Express, but he could feel people's eyes upon him as he battled his way through the crowds.

"Everybody's staring!" he grumbled to Harry who was bringing up the rear with Teddy's trunk.

"Yes, at the Boy Who Lived. He's very famous." Remus reminded him, having overheard the complaint, and he was right, Teddy decided, but the people weren't staring at Harry because he was famous.

"Merlin, look at that!" a Hufflepuff girl with short black curls said, elbowing her friend in the ribs to get her attention. "They've got the Deputy Head of Aurors with them!"

"Ooh!" her friend gasped, openly staring at the passers-by. "They much be in real trouble!"

Teddy turned to scowl at them and they hastily turned their backs to him. They weren't the only ones to make comments.

"That poor boy..." one short, tubby witch clutching a baby to her chest murmured sadly.

"It's brave of them, isn't it? Still, they were in the Order of the Phoenix, it's no surprise..." a wizard dressed in long bottle green robes mused.

"I wonder where Mrs. Lupin is..." a Gryffindor student whispered to his Ravenclaw friend far too loudly.

"If that were me I don't think I could stand to send my Tabitha back to school just like that. I'd be far too worried..." another mother told the witch next to her.

Teddy gave up glaring at people and kept his gaze upon his shoes.

"It'll die down, don't worry Teddy." Harry assured him with a smile. "They'll get bored."

Teddy had his doubts, but he nodded as if he agreed. It was then that he heard somebody calling his name and he looked up to see his best friend and fellow Gryffindor Chester Burton waving frantically at him, hanging out of a train window. Teddy's spirits immediately lifted. Chester was a muggleborn and he did not bother to read the newspapers. He would not know anything about the death threats made against Teddy's family, he wouldn't stare and whisper behind Teddy's back. Teddy wondered what Chester would say when he found out about the Lupins' problems. Knowing Chester he would probably say _that's bloody mental, Teddy mate_, and that would be the end of it. There would not be any awkward questions.

Harry carefully levitated Teddy's trunk up into the train carriage and offered Teddy a grin.

"Well, I guess that's you here in one piece! I should probably get back to the Ministry, I left Ron in charge and he'll be less than pleased if I'm gone for too long, the office is in chaos."

"You get to leave people in charge?" Teddy asked, eyes widening at this information. "Isn't that my Mum's job?"

Harry gave a shrug.

"Well yeah, but I'm in charge whilst she's not there, and I left Ron in charge until Tonks or I get back..."

"You mean Mum isn't at the Ministry?" Teddy interrupted, causing Harry to frown.

"Not right now, no..."

"Why not?" Teddy felt worry creeping inside of him again.

"I dunno, Teddy, Kingsley sent her somewhere or something. I've not heard from her today."

"But somebody went with her, right? She's not on her own, is she?"

Harry opened his mouth to say something reassuring, before remembering their new found policy of honesty.

"I don't know." he admitted, biting his lip as Teddy began to look panicked.

It was then that the whistle was blown and the last of the students began to board the train.

"Well, thanks so much for everything, Harry, it was really good of you to come," Remus said hurriedly, reaching to shake Harry by the hand.

"You'll make sure somebody is with her, won't you Harry?" Teddy asked anxiously, but Harry did not answer.

"Say goodbye to Harry, Teddy." Remus told him, but Teddy merely stared pleadingly at the black haired Auror.

"I'll...I'll try and talk to Kingsley." Harry decided at last. "Have a good term, Teddy!"

"_Promise _you'll talk to Kingsley!"

"I'll try, I don't even know if he's at the Ministry either..."

"What do you mean you don't know if he's at the Ministry?! He's the bloody Minister for Magic!" Teddy cried, more panicked than ever, but Harry merely looked regretful.

"Get on the train, Teddy." Remus instructed firmly, giving him a nudge towards the train.

"But, wait..."

"There's no time, get on the train."

Reluctantly Teddy climbed up into the carriage and hurried to hang out a window.

"Send your patronus or something, Harry! Promise you'll make sure she's okay!" he called, but his voice was muffled by a second blast from the whistle and before Harry could reply there was a great hiss of steam and the train began to move. Teddy looked around for his father so that he could wave to him, but Remus appeared to have disappeared from the platform.

"Dad?!" Teddy called in confusion, only to jump as a voice beside him said:

"I'm right here." There was Remus, smiling at the surprised look upon his son's face.

"What're you doing?!" Teddy cried, causing the werewolf to chuckle.

"Professor McGonnogal suggested I take the train this year. Don't worry, I won't follow you around or anything of the sort. You won't even notice I'm here, I promise." And with one last smile the Defence Professor turned and headed to the opposite end of the train. Teddy sighed heavily before seizing hold of his trunk and dragging it towards the compartment door where Chester was waiting for him. The train rapidly gained speed and the two boys settled themselves down for the long journey back to school, eating sweets and chatting; Chester about his Christmas presents and Teddy about something all together more ominous.


	4. A Little Pale

_Note: For Kuroida, because unfinished stories make me sigh too._

_Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling, not me. I am not making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**4: A Little Pale**

Silence fell over the Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as Headmistress Minerva McGonagall stood behind the elaborate lectern, looking out at the students.

"Now before you all head off to your dormitories," she told them, "I have a couple of announcements to make."

From his seat at the Gryffindor table, Teddy elbowed Chester firmly in the ribs to get his attention. Finally the other boy reluctantly abandoned the remainders of his trifle and turned to look up at the raised platform.

"Firstly, as many of you may have noticed, Professor Aubery is not with us this evening." McGonagall paused at the sound of shuffling and mumbling as the students all craned their necks to look up at the teachers' table, as if they needed to confirm this fact for themselves. "Sadly, I must inform you that she will not be rejoining us here at Hogwarts, due to her plans to move to southern Italy. We all wish her the very best."

The Headmistress' final sentence was somewhat drowned out by the sudden discussions that sprung up all around the room, loudest of which was coming from the Gryffindor table.

"We have, therefore, been left with two positions that need to be filled. The first being that of Potions Professor, the second being Head of Gryffindor House."

"Who'd she pick?" a fourth year sat opposite Teddy whispered to the table at large. "Which of the teachers are Gryffindors?"

"Budden, Addlesford and Lupin." supplied a fifth year from a couple of seats to Teddy's left.

"Nah, Budden's a Ravenclaw!" Chester told them.

"It better be Lupin. If it's Addlesford I'd rather move to Slytherin."

"She's not that bad!"

"She's about as much fun as Binns!"

"What if the new potions professor was in Gryffindor too?"

"Hope not. Lupin would be the best. He's got a sense of humour..."

"He'd let us throw parties after Quidditch matches..."

"Please not Addlesford!"

"Come on, let it be Lupin..."

"Settle down!" McGonnagal called and the Gryffindors paused in their discussions, a number sitting with crossed fingers in their laps. "Now, please join me in welcoming our new potions teacher, Professor Flint."

The students and teachers applauded politely as the newcomer rose briefly to his feet to acknowledge the greeting, though at the Gryffindor table the majority of students were still debating who would be their new Head of House.

"How many years has Addlesford been here? Longer than Lupin, surely..."

"No, Lupin's been here longer."

"No he hasn't."

"He has."

"Hasn't."

"They arrived the same year, actually."

"Yeah, but Lupin has a year over her still, he taught for a year in the '90s..."

Teddy ignored the debate and chose to take a good look at the new teacher instead. He looked somewhat unremarkable, dressed in dark blue robes, his hair a tangle of brown curls. Squinting, Teddy thought that he could use a good sleep, he had pale, sickly coloured skin and dark eyes. He stood with hunched shoulders, eying the scene before him as if it were somehow suspicious.

"What a weirdo." Teddy muttered to himself.

"Teddy's right!" Chester announced as Flint sunk back down into his chair. "Addlesford's a weirdo! She'd make a rubbish head of house! Imagine her trying to book us the Quidditch pitch!"

The surrounding Gryffindors mumbled their agreement, only to pause again when the Headmistress called for silence.

"As for the new Head of Gryffindor House," she began, only to be interrupted by a series of loud whoops and cheers from the house in question. She fixed them with a stern look and the rowdy students consented to be silent just long enough for her to inform the school: "It has been agreed that the position will be filled by Professor Lupin."

The Gryffindor table erupted into cheers and hearty applause as the students jumped to their feet, stamping their feet in approval.

"Yes!" Chester shouted, clamping Teddy excitedly on the shoulder as the professor's son whooped and cheered as loudly as his lungs would permit. "He's never going to deduct points for my homework now!"

All calls for order were lost in the chaos and by the time it was restored Chester and a couple of fourth years had jumped up upon the table, punching the air in triumph.

Order came in a sudden burst of sparks shooting up into the air, showering the hall in an array of red and gold stars. The Gryffindors paused in their celebrations to look up at the teachers' table. Professor Lupin had risen from his chair, wand still raised.

"Mr. Burton, Mr. Patel and Miss Jones, kindly step down from your podium. The rest of you, please sit down and be quiet."

Not another word was spoken until the students were sent to bed.

Teddy battled his way through the crowded Entrance Hall, desperately trying to catch up with his father who appeared to be disappearing into the crowd. He opened his mouth to shout Dad, only to think better of it. He didn't want to sound silly, after all, instead he drew in a deep breath and bellowed:

"Oi! Moony!"

He could see Remus pausing at the bottom of the marble staircase, turning to look searchingly through the sea of black school robes, only for another voice to call to him too.

"Professor Lupin!"

As Cassandra Wood, both captain and slave driver of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, shoved her way through the crowd towards the professor, Teddy quickened his pace, squeezing past a pair of tall sixth years. Remus needed saving. If somebody didn't stop her Cassandra would be babbling Quidditch at him until breakfast the next morning. How insignificant it would all seem, Teddy thought, when their family was in constant danger. The boy wondered how his father managed to concern himself with anything else. By the time Teddy had reached the staircase, it appeared that he was much too late.

"...and I told Professor Aubery over and over! We need the pitch for extra practice! But she never sorted it! It's only another two sessions! It's not that much to ask! Would you please talk to Madam Hooch for us, Professor? It's so important..."

"I'll do my best, Cassandra, but if you've booked four sessions already...the other houses need chances to practice too..."

"Don't you want us to win?!"

Teddy sidled up to the pair before Remus could answer.

"Of course he does, Cass! That's why he's not going to book the pitch for you. He doesn't want us all to miss matches when we die of exhaustion!"

"We need to practice, Teddy! I've been doing a lot of thinking over Christmas, I've got this whole new strategy worked out..."

"I'll talk to Madam Hooch." Remus interrupted swiftly, and Teddy shook his head.

"She'll tell you where to jump!" he informed his father bluntly. "She's already threatening to give Monday evenings to Slytherin."

"I'll talk to her."

"Professor Lupin!" Chester had appeared at Teddy's shoulder, grinning broadly.

"Chester?"

"Professor, can we have a party?"

"A party...?"

"Yeah!"

"What's the occasion?"

"Gryffindor has gained a brilliant new Head of House!"

Remus turned on his heel and began to make his way up the marble staircase, Chester, Cassandra and Teddy hurrying after him.

"I have absolutely no intention of endorsing a party when you all have lessons tomorrow morning. In fact if I were to discover such a party I would naturally be forced to deduct house points from those responsible."

"But Professor..."

"However, what you get up to at the weekend is an entirely different matter. If you send a collection round and make a list of party essentials I can probably find a spare lunchtime to pop down to Honeydukes and buy them on your behalf in time for Saturday. If you're going to have a party you ought to do it properly, after all."

Chester positively beamed.

"Awesome!" he declared excitedly as they reached the top of the stairs. "C'mon Ted! Let's go and tell the others, get them to cough up a galleon or two!"

Teddy had meant to ask his father if there had been any word from his mother during the train journey, but Chester had seized him by the arm and dragged him off towards Gryffindor Tower before he could get the chance.

By the end of his second day back at Hogwarts, Teddy was still in good cheer, the normality of school life made him feel at ease, whilst the prospect of a party was a welcome distraction from his worry about death threats and Death Eaters. And so it was that on the third morning he and Chester headed to their first Defense against the Dark Arts lesson that term. Remus arrived as they were extracting textbooks from their bags and searching for ink bottles and quills. Teddy watched him put down a mug of coffee upon the teacher's desk, before setting about writing a heading upon the blackboard with a levitated stick of chalk. He proceeded to perch upon the edge of his desk and, after taking a sip of his coffee, asked the class if anyone could tell him what a Red Cap was. When Chester raised his hand to tell him that a Red Cap was a type of hat worn by muggles, Professor Lupin merely raised an eyebrow and thanks the grinning Gryffindor for enlightening him. As the teacher rose to his feet and began to pace up and down before the class, launching into a far more accurate description, Chester muttered:  
"He's not himself today. He never just lectures, he's starting to look a bit like Binns, pacing like that."

"Shut up, Ches!" Teddy hissed, irritated. But if he were honest, Teddy would agree with his friend. Remus was distinctly lacking in enthusiasm, he had not kept the act up for long. Clearly, his mind was somewhere else. He pacing was becoming steadily slower, his eyes consistently downcast.

"...and consequently when dealing with Red Caps it is always important to..."

At that moment the professor trailed off into silence, pausing to stare down at the coffee cup that he was holding in both hands. After a long pause one student asked:

"When dealing with Red Caps it is always important to what, Professor?"

Professor Lupin turned his back on the class in order to set the coffee mug firmly down upon his desk. His hand gripped the side of the sturdy wooden structure for a moment before he turned back to the class, hand still resting against the desk.

"It is always important to know what is said about them on page one hundred and twelve of your textbooks!" he finished, and a collective groan of protest filled the room. "Books out please, read the section on Red Caps and take notes."

As the students set about this unusually boring task, Teddy watched Remus slowly walk to sit behind his desk.

"Maybe he's got loads of marking to do or something." Chester suggested as he scrawled a title at the top of a fresh sheet of parchment. But the professor simply sat at his desk, unmoving, watching the class at work.

The lesson wore on and Teddy noticed that his fellow students were becoming increasingly restless, continuously glancing up at the front of the room in between paragraphs. All of a sudden one of the Gryffindors raised her hand.

"Professor?" she asked, causing the entire class to look up.

Teddy looked up to see that Remus had been examining the coffee cup yet again. His face appeared to have gone very pale. He looked up and offered the class the smallest of smiles.

"Yes, Charlotte?"

Charlotte Walters sat a little straighter in her chair.

"Professor, we were wondering...that is to say Amanda and I were wondering, are you ill, sir? It's just...well you look a bit...unwell."

"You've gone a little pale." explained Ravenclaw Amanda Bond from Charlotte's left.

Professor Lupin continued to smile.

"I have a habit of looking a little pale, I'm afraid." he told them, placing the coffee cup back down again. "But I am perfectly well. Thank you for your concern."

The class returned to taking notes. Two minutes later, Chester elbowed Teddy in the side to get his attention.

"Look!" he hissed,

Teddy looked up to see his father sat a little slumped in his seat, hands gripping the edge of the desk in front of him with an iron-like grip.

"He's shaking." Charlotte whispered, and sure enough if Teddy squinted he could see that the teacher's desk was trembling too. Cold sweat appeared to be drenching the teacher's face as he slowly reached into the pocket of his robes, drawing out his pocket watch. Teddy watched him observe the time with a clenched jaw, before he put the watch back in his pocket and returned to staring blankly at the back of the classroom.

Teddy immediately rose to his feet.

"Are you sure..." he began, only for Remus' eyes to suddenly focus on him.

"Sit down, Theodore."

"But..."

"There are ten minutes until the end of class. Sit down."

Reluctantly the boy dropped back down into his seat. Remus' gaze returned to staring at nothing in particular as he drew in short breaths that seemed to become more shallow as the minutes ticked on.

Teddy sat and stared.

What in Merlin's name was wrong, he wondered, for his father had been perfectly well at the beginning of class...

Father and son's gazes met for a brief moment and the former sat straighter in his chair and offered his son a smile. Yet his hands continued to grip the desk as if his very life depended on it.

"Ches..." Teddy breathed, tapping his friend urgently on the arm. "Ches...I think...I think somebody should do something."

"Like what? If he's really ill he'll get up and go to the Hospital Wing."

"Yeah, but...but seriously Chester..."

"Seriously Teddy, maybe he's got a bad headache or something. I mean it can't be that bad, can it? He was fine fifteen minutes ago..."

"Does that look like a bloody headache to you?!" Teddy snapped, only for Remus to call:

"Reading now, discussions later, Teddy."

Teddy opened his mouth to protest, only for the words to die on his lips when he looked up to see that Remus appeared to be sitting with his eyes closed, a deep frown creasing his brow. Quite suddenly his eyes snapped back open and he pulled himself to his feet. The students immediately abandoned their books to look at him.

"Keep going, all of you." the professor instructed as if he were oblivious to their staring. "I expect at least two sides from each of you. I will be back momentarily, I left some papers in the staffroom."

His steps out from behind the desk and down the center of the room towards the door were slow, shaky. His shoes tapping upon the stone floor.

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

Tap...

_THUD! _


	5. Delirium

Note: Once again thank you to everybody who left me reviews! I am glad that you are enjoying the story and I hope you like this chapter too!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.

**5: Delirium**

The room was suddenly bursting with noise, screams and the scrape of wood on stone as the students leapt to their feet, gasps and exclamations of horror filling the air.

"Oh Merlin!"

"Professor?!"

"Is he okay?!"

"Somebody get help!"

Teddy vaulted over his desk and shoved his way through the crowd that was surrounding their teacher's collapsed form.

"Dad?!" he cried, falling to his knees beside his father, reaching to lay a hand on his shoulder. "Dad? Can you hear me?!"

There came a mumbled, vague response and Teddy strained to hear over the chaos that surrounded them, until a voice demanded:

"Everyone shut up! He's still conscious!"

There was immediate silence as Teddy bent down, his head practically on the floor.

"Dad...?" he tried again, only to jump when Remus' hand suddenly grasped hold of his arm.

"...an...." came the wheezed response, and Teddy grabbed hold of his father's hand.

"What is it, Dad? Tell me..."

"W...w..."

"Tell me, Dad!"

"...wand..." the werewolf finally managed, the word not much more than a sharply exhaled breath.

Teddy immediately shoved his free hand into his pocket and drew out his wand, pressing it firmly into his father's hand.

"Go on, Dad," he instructed, gripping Remus' fingers to ensure that the wand did not slip from his feeble grasp. "Do...something..."

A thin wisp of silvery light trailed from the wand's tip and quite suddenly vague whispers filled the air, causing the class to look around them for the source of the noise.

_Help me...somebody help me...in the classroom...the Ministry...for the love of Merlin...somebody find Dora..._

"What's going on?" whispered a girl to Teddy's left, only for Chester to whisper:

"Shut up! He's trying to concentrate!"

"Yeah, but what's he doing?"

"He's trying to contact the Order of the Phoenix." Teddy supplied, gripping his father's hand more tightly. "C'mon Dad, you can do it..."

And quite suddenly a great silvery figure burst forth from the tip of Teddy's wand, streaking through the nearest wall at lightening speed, causing several of the students to jump backwards in alarm.

"Thank Merlin," Teddy breathed as yet again everybody started talking at once. "Now hang in there, Dad, everything's going to be alright, I promise...Dad?"

Remus' grip upon the wand had suddenly gone limp.

"He's fainted, Ted." Chester announced from his position staring down at the professor's pale face.

It was mere minutes later when the classroom door burst open and Professor McGonnogal came gliding into the room, making the students jump.

"Everybody out of the way!" she demanded, and they immediately parted to let her through. Wordlessly she bent down and reached to press her hand to the werewolf's forehead.

"Andrew has gone to fetch Madam Pomfrey, Professor." a Ravenclaw boy informed her, but she did not appear to hear him. She reached to cautiously pull open Remus' mouth, before squinting inside.

"Oh Merlin," Teddy heard her mutter to herself, before she straightened up and declared: "Everybody back to their common rooms! Go on, now, off you go!"

"Is Professor Lupin going to be okay?" Chester wanted to know, but he was ushered towards the door with the rest of the class.

"Yes, yes, of course he is. Now go on, out!"

Teddy did not move a muscle. When the Headmistress turned to face him he planted his feet stubbornly upon the floor and said:  
"I'm staying with my dad."

"Yes, of course you are." McGonnogal agreed, just as Madam Pomfrey hurried through the door, pushing her way past the exiting students.

"Oh dear, Minerva! What on earth happened here?" she exclaimed, not waiting for an answer as she dropped to her knees beside Remus and began to examine him. Teddy suppressed a shudder at the limpness of his father's body.

"We better get him to the Hospital Wing." McGonnogal decided grimly. "Then I shall have to owl the Ministry. Let Tonks know her husband has been poisoned..."

"Poisoned?!" Teddy cried, feeling something constrict in his in alarm. "He's...he's been poisoned?!"

"He's going to be fine!" Madam Pomfrey told him briskly, reaching to draw her wand. "If we're quick, now let's get him out of here."

"If...if you're quick?!"

Teddy's panicked mumbling went ignored as a stretcher was conjured and the two witches set about moving Remus onto it. The boy watched numbly as his father was levitated towards the door. He shuffled along behind the adults, eyes upon his feet.

If they were quick?

What if they weren't quick? What then?

As the two witches continued to murmur hurriedly to one another, racing down the corridor as fast as they could without upturning the stretcher, Teddy struggled to keep up. His legs felt like dead weights, he didn't want to catch them up, to lay eyes upon his father's ghostly face again. The image seemed to be seared into his eyelids already, he wanted to stop and press his thumbs into his eyes until they throbbed, until the image disappeared. He wanted to sink to the floor and stay there, not follow them to the Hospital Wing. The risk of seeing an empty shell flop down upon a mattress was far too much for him, the very idea of witnessing such a thing...to see his father slip away before his very eyes...

Remus was not supposed to die. He was supposed to live forever, not simply drop dead one day leaving his son's world in pieces. Besides, fathers were immortal, it was a fact of life...

Except Grandad Tonks.

And Harry's dad James.

They had been immortal, too. Only somebody hadn't explained this to Voldemort or the Death Eaters. It hadn't been fair.

And here Teddy was, in the great, fairer new world that everybody had been fighting for, and it still wasn't fair.

It was wrong.

By the time he had reached the Hospital Wing, Teddy found that his father had already been deposited upon a bed and Madam Pomfrey was hurrying over towards her office, still babbling to McGonnogal who was on her heels.

The young Gryffindor drew in a deep, steadying breath, before shuffling over to his father's side.

Remus' face was deathly pale, even his lips seemed to have had the colour sapped from them, and his closed eyelids seemed unnaturally dark and heavy.

Teddy slowly reached to press a hand to his cheek, only to hastily draw away, for the icy temperature made him shudder. He bent forward, his mouth mere inches from Remus' ear.

"Dad...it's me, Teddy." he informed the lifeless figure clearly. "Listen...you're not allowed to die. It's against the rules. Your my dad, your not allowed to leave me, there's...there's not....not a war or...or anything...so...so you aren't allowed to die, okay? Being poisoned isn't a good enough excuse..."

There came pounding footsteps once again as Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonnogal returned, the former carrying two large bottles full of...Teddy was sure that he didn't want to know what. McGonnogal was holding an empty bucket.

"What's in there?" Teddy asked as the bottles were set firmly down upon the bedside table, but he was ignored.

"First things first!" Madam Pomfrey announced, reaching to roll up her sleeves in a business-like fashion. "Let's sit him up."

Teddy shuffled backwards to allow the Headmistress closer to the bed and each witch took hold of an arm and pulled Remus up into a sitting position. They proceeded to tilt his head backwards and tip a generous amount of murky looking liquid from one of the bottles down his throat.

The werewolf immediately gagged and, to Teddy's shock, his eyes snapped open in alarm as he attempted to gasp for breath.

"Calm down, Remus!" Madam Pomfrey instructed firmly as he instantly began to struggle against the hands that were holding him firmly upright. "Don't struggle for Merlin's sake, your weak enough as it is!"

Remus did not appear to be listening to her. He wrenched his arm free of McGonnogal's grasp, only to flop down onto his side, coughing uncontrollably. Quite suddenly he reached to pull himself towards the edge of the bed, head lolling over the edge as he vomited violently onto the tiled floor.

McGonnogal sighed heavily, tapping her fingers upon the rim of the empty bucket.

"I'll owl the Ministry, shall I?" she muttered, setting the bucket down and turning to stride back towards Madam Pomfrey's office.

"That's it," Madam Pomfrey was saying as she lay a comforting hand upon the werewolf's shoulder. "That's good, very good..."

As Remus continued to empty the contents of his stomach and Merlin knew what else in a storm of coughs, spluttering and wheezing breaths, Teddy couldn't help but disagree. From where he was standing the whole scene looked far from good.

It was not for several minutes that Remus managed to pause long enough for Madam Pomfrey to asked:

"Finished? Good!" She seized him by the arm and hauled him back onto his back, causing him to give another spluttered cough. As she reached to pull a handkerchief from her pocket and hastily wiped the remnants of his encounter with the side of the bed from his face, Remus' eyes were blinking rapidly as if trying to clear his vision.

"Wha...?" he rasped, barely suppressing another series of coughs.

Madam Pomfrey bent down until her face was directly in front of him.

"Remus," she spoke slowly, as if speaking to a very small child. "You are in the Hospital Wing. I need you to stay very calm and not move about, okay? You've been poisoned, you need to save your strength. Do you understand?"

Remus stared at her blankly for a long moment before give a single nod.

"Good. Now I need you to drink this," she thrust the second bottle under his nose so that he could see it. "It will help to neutralize the poison..."

"Poison...?"

"Yes, Remus, the poison. You've been poisoned, remember? I told you just a moment ago."

"Oh."

Teddy felt his stomach twist into a worried knot as Madam Pomfrey reached to press a hand to the werewolf's forehead.

"It's starting already," she muttered grimly, glancing over her shoulder as McGonnogal made her way back towards the bed. "Minerva, I don't know how long it was before we got to him, but he's really in quite a bad way..."

"Where's Dora?" Remus mumbled, his eyes drifting closed as he spoke.

"I'm sure she'll be here as soon as she can." Madam Pomfrey assured him, reaching to uncork the bottle, only to freeze when he murmured:

"She's supposed to be at home. With the baby."

The two witches exchanged a worried glance.

"The baby...?" McGonnogal repeated as Madam Pomfrey set about measuring out a generous glassful of potion.

"Teddy." Remus explained, voice growing steadily more distant. "She's at home with Teddy."

"Remus...Teddy isn't a baby anymore..." the Headmistress reminded him gently, only for him to agree:

"Of course he isn't. He's at school."

"He's not making any sense." Teddy observed, clasping his hands together nervously in front of him.

"It's the poison." Madam Pomfrey explained as she hurriedly pressed the glass to her patient's lips. "Drink, Remus." she instructed firmly, before practically forcing the concoction down his throat.

As another round of spluttering coughs took hold of his father, Teddy squeezed his eyes closed. Please, he begged silently, please make him better, don't let him die, not now, not like this...

The coughing subsided quite suddenly at the sound of a soft thudding noise. Teddy's eyes snapped back open to see his father once again out cold upon the bed.

"What now?" McGonnogal asked quietly as Madam Pomfrey took a small step backwards, setting the glass down upon the bedside table.

"Now," the nurse said, "we wait."

Teddy went to fetch himself a chair.

Come the evening and Teddy had not moved from his seat. Some hours ago he had resorted to resting his head upon the edge of the bed, his statuesque vigil was making him drowsy. He counted the half hours every time Madam Pomfrey bustled over to check up on her patient. At first she had attempted to say something reassuring to him, but as time wore on her efforts became reduced to little more than a vague smile. Teddy skipped his dinner, refusing to leave his father's side, determined to be there when Remus woke up again.

At approximately one o'clock the following morning, Teddy drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up some five hours later, the bed was empty.

Remus was gone.

Teddy blinked to banish the sleep from his eyes, before getting hastily to his feet.

"Dad?" he called, looking about the room searchingly, only to find that he appeared to be entirely alone. He stumbled sleepily out into the aisle and headed to Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Madam Pomfrey...?" he called, tapping lightly upon the door.

"Yes, yes," came a voice from within, and Teddy jumped backwards slightly as the door was flung open before him. Madam Pomfrey bustled out onto the ward, carrying a familiar looking glass bottle. "I know what the time is, Mr. Lupin! I was just coming and believe me, five minutes isn't going to kill him..."

She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Where is he?!" she asked, rounding on Teddy as if it were entirely his fault.

"You...you don't know...?" Teddy stuttered, panic assaulting his insides, he felt as though his legs were about to buckle.

"No." Madam Pomfrey breathed, turning back to stare wide-eyed at the empty bed. "No, Mr. Lupin, I don't..."


	6. At Auror Headquarters

_Note: Once again I will not say sorry for the cliffhanger! I will, however, say sorry for taking so long to update, I've been very busy, what with the end of college and going on holiday! But I'm now officially BACK, so updates will be relatively speedy! Thank you to my reviewers, you really do make me smile! =)_

_Watch out for another story set in the Blood 'ficverse that I will be posting some time soon! Requested by inuyashagirl22, Tonks takes a day off work to help out at Remus' duelling club at Hogwarts...naturally, chaos ensues! =) _

_If anybody else ever has any requests, feel free to ask! I have quite a long to do list right now, but chances are I'll get round to them all eventually! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**6: At Auror Headquarters**

"Miss Ellison, the Astronomy Tower. Mr. Eddings, the first floor. Professor Flitwick, the second floor..."

As Teddy numbly listened to the Headmistress' instructions to the assembled teachers and prefects, he reached to pick up his father's wand that had been left upon the bedside table, examining it with a sense of dread.

"...Mr. Lupin will remain here with Madam Pomfrey."

At the sound of his name, Teddy's gaze snapped up to look at Professor McGonnagall, and he rapidly shook his head.

"I want to help look..."

"Now off you go, all of you. Quickly now, he's in a very bad way!" McGonnagall continued, and Teddy felt frustration bubbling up inside of him at being ignored yet again. As the search party dispersed, Teddy pocketed the wand and folded his arms firmly across his chest.

"I want to help look for my dad!" he informed the headmistress, quite bravely he felt. "This is a big castle, the more people we have looking for him, the faster we'll find him."

McGonnagall turned to face him, expression uncharacteristically soft.

"I'm afraid I need you to wait here, Teddy." she told him. "I don't think either of your parents would forgive me if I let you go wandering around by yourself."

"Why?" Teddy asked, bemused at her words. "I walk around on my own all the time, why shouldn't I..." He trailed off into silence and drew in a sharp breath as realization struck him painfully in the chest, causing him to take a stumbling step backwards. Again, he shook his head vigorously. "You said Dad was delirious! You said he wasn't thinking straight! He's just...just wandered off...hasn't he? He hasn't...somebody hasn't..."

"I honestly don't know quite what has happened to him, Teddy." McGonnagall explained, and Teddy could not quite comprehend how her voice was so calm. "But somebody inside of the castle has already poisoned him. It is possible that he has been...taken. And that is why you must stay here with me and not go wandering the corridors. Your father would want you to stay here where I can keep an eye on you."

"You're wrong!" Teddy shouted, hair a confused mix of red and grey. "You have to be wrong! If...if somebody took him...well...well I would have woken up! He...he would have struggled..."

Her face was frighteningly grave as she reasoned:

"Your father was probably unconscious, he would not have struggled in the slightest."

"He'd wake up! And...and if somebody took him...well the Death Eaters are after me too, aren't they? I was right here! If...if they were taking him away...well why wouldn't they take me too? See! You're wrong! He's just wandered off! And I need to help find him!" And with that, before McGonnagal could say a word, he reached to wipe at the tears upon his face with a sleeve and made a run for the door, only to collide with a blur of red and almost fall flat on his back. A hand grabbed his arm to steady him.

"Careful there, Teddy." a familiar voice said, and Teddy found himself looking up at his godfather, flanked by a second familiar looking Auror.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley exchanged a worried glance before the former informed McGonnagal:

"I got your note."

The headmistress looked surprisingly displeased by this news.

"It was addressed to Tonks." she pointed out, and Teddy froze, panicked again and the rather reluctant expression upon the Auror's face as he mumbled:

"Yeah...I know it was..."

When Harry seemed unprepared to continue, Ron admitted:

"Tonks is missing."

Under the weight of the fear that struck him like a stunning jinx, Teddy's knees instantly buckled. Harry reached to put his arms firmly around the boy, holding him upright.

"It's okay, Teddy." he whispered. "We're going to find her. The whole Auror department and half of Magical Law Enforcement's on it! Not to mention the Order all got wind of it, too. Everybody's looking, we'll find her in no time."

"Since when?" McGonnagal asked, voice a little higher than usual in surprise.

"A few days ago." Ron explained, reaching to run a hand through his red hair with a deep sigh. "Kingsley's gone ape, the whole Ministry's buzzing. Not had anything like this since Voldemort..."

"Ron!"

"...but of course it's nothing like that, really. She'll show up! Not the Head of Aurors for nothing, is she, eh Ted?" He nodded his head and offered Teddy a grin that was far too optimistic as far as the child was concerned.

"We're here to take Teddy somewhere safe." Harry explained, patting the boy comfortingly on the back. "After what's happened to Remus, Hogwarts isn't the best place for him."

"No," McGonnagal agreed with a heavy sigh. "It isn't. Well then, you best be getting along. I'll have some of his things packed and send them along behind you. Where are you taking him?"

"The Ministry." Harry supplied as he attempted to prize Teddy away from the front of his robes. "No place safer for him. Come on, Ted, I know it's difficult, but the sooner we get to the Ministry the sooner Ron and I can carry on looking for your parents..."

Teddy was vaguely aware of Harry's hands upon his shoulders, guiding him out of the Hospital Wing and down the corridor.

"This is all wrong." he whimpered, scuffing his shoes upon the stone floor as he went. "Everything's wrong, I don't need to go anywhere, I need to help find Dad, I...I need my dad...to look after me..."

"We're going to find him, Teddy, I promise. Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"He's...he's really sick...and...and Mum..."

"It's going to be okay."

"They could...could die...Dad's really sick and...and the Death Eaters..."

"Your dad, Teddy, is as tough as dragon hide boots, and if a bunch of former Death Eaters reckon your mum will let them walk all over her, they've got another thing coming."

Despite Harry's reassurances, Teddy continued to stutter and sob as they walked to the nearest teacher's office and flooed to the Ministry. By the time they had began to make their way across the highly polished floor of the Atrium, Teddy's tears appeared to have exhausted him somewhat and he fell into silence, tears still cascading freely down his face.

He barely recalled their trip in the elevator and their short walk to Auror Headquarters. He was too busy remembering just how pale Remus' face had been the night before, how cold his skin had felt to touch when Teddy had held his hand, and the desperate whispers that had filled the classroom...

_Help me...somebody help me..._

Such fear, such terror, so unlike his father, Teddy thought. Remus wasn't supposed to be afraid of anything. He was always so calm, so utterly fearless...

_Help me..._

The doors to Auror Headquarters were pushed open and Teddy found himself pushed inside, straight into chaos. The office was a hive of activity, at the desk closest to the door a couple of Aurors were busy examining a huge map, jabbing fingers at it and having a rapid conversation that Teddy could not quite make out over the noise of the office at large. At the back of the office a large group of Aurors were busy staring at a huge piece of paper that had been tacked to the wall, upon which was drawn some sort of time line. Yet another Auror was stood pointing at different points upon the line with her wand as she addressed the rest, tapping the wall with emphasis and causing the others to mumble amongst themselves. At another desk, a witch was bent low over a thick folder full of documents, flipping through pages as she skimmed through the information searchingly. Paper memos streaked above the peoples' heads at lightning speed, the sight made Teddy feel a little dizzy.

Harry's hand left Teddy's shoulder as a blonde haired Auror sidled up to them, looking more than a little flustered.

"Any news?" Ron asked from over Harry's shoulder, and the blonde wizard shook his head.

"Not really, the leads have dried up again, so we're just going over the events again, see if we missed anything."

Harry reached into the pocket of his robes and drew out a scrap of paper, holding it out to the man.

"Heard of him?" he asked, as Teddy attempted to get a glimpse of what was written upon it.

"Mortimer Flint..." the other Auror squinted down at the name with a frown. "Don't think so, no..."

"Well look him up." Harry instructed, hand back upon Teddy's shoulder. "New Potions Master at Hogwarts and all of a sudden the Defense Professor gets poisoned and both disappear from the castle? Sounds a bit obvious if you ask me. Come on, Teddy."

"Flint's disappeared too?" Teddy asked as he was led towards the door at the opposite end of the room. "How'd you know that?"

"Ron and I went to find him before we collected you, what with your dad getting poisoned. Couldn't find him anywhere. McGonnagal's going to kick herself." They reached the door and Harry motioned Teddy into the next room. "Now you wait here for a bit, okay? Don't worry, Ted, we'll have your mum and dad back before you know it."

And with that, Harry closed the door firmly behind the boy, and Teddy found himself all alone. He turned to look around the room, feeling somewhat calmed by the sudden silence. There had to be some form of silencing charm on the door, he mused.

Bookcases full of files lined the side walls and a vast framed picture dominated the back wall behind the large wooden desk. The members of the second Order of the Phoenix waved enthusiastically at him from inside their frame, but Teddy did not so much as smile back. He wandered forward to sink into the large chair behind the desk, only to find himself staring at a framed photograph out of which his ten year old self and his parents smiled at him.

Teddy closed his eyes. And he remained that way, sat silently in his mother's office for some half an hour until the peaceful atmosphere was finally disturbed.

At the sound of a odd whooshing sound, Teddy's eyes snapped open and he looked up searchingly for the source of the noise. High above him, he caught sight of what appeared to be a small hole in the ceiling, and just as he was beginning to wonder exactly why it was there, a letter came shooting out of it, coming to land upon the desk in front of him with a soft thwack.

Glancing at the closed door, Teddy hesitated only briefly before leaning forward to look at the envelope.

_Teddy Remus Lupin_

_Head of Aurors' Office_

_Auror Headquarters_

_The Ministry of Magic_

_London_

Teddy reached with a trembling hand to pick up the letter, and carefully reached to pull open the envelope. Inside he found a grubby piece of paper, upon which was scrawled a brief message in barely coherent handwriting. It began:

_We have your parents. _

_If you want to see them alive ever again, I suggest you follow these instructions. Exactly. _


	7. The Instructions

_Note: There are spoilers for and references to** Lies and Letters** in this chapter! So if you haven't read it and can't be bothered to, either (I don't blame you, it is horrifically long!), all you need to know is that Teddy has seen many of his parents' exploits during the War in a pensieve._

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**7: The Instructions**

Teddy stared disbelievingly at the letter, his heartbeat drumming in his ears.

One thousand galleons? It just did not make sense. How could this whole horrible mess simply be about money?

Who cares what it's about, a voice in the back of his head declared fiercely. They'll let Mum and Dad go, that was the important thing.

One thousand galleons didn't seem to be a that huge sum of money for a ransom...

There wouldn't have to be any fighting, it would all be over quickly. Then Tonks could take Remus to St. Mungo's and the healers would make him better.

Surely there were other, richer, easier targets? Who in their right mind would kidnap the Head of Aurors just for money?

Harry was clearly lying. Teddy had heard the blonde haired wizard, the Aurors had no idea where his parents were. And Remus wasn't going to last long without medicine...

Again, Teddy recalled his father's pale face, his shallow, desperate breaths...

_Help me...somebody help me..._

Teddy read the instructions again.

Go to Gringotts. Take one thousand galleons from your family vault. Go down Knockturn Alley and turn left down the alleyway beside the second boarded up shop. Wait there. Tell nobody.

He could do that, couldn't he? He'd just have to floo home to fetch the vault key, morph into his father so that they goblins weren't suspicious, he could be halfway down Knockturn Alley before Harry even realize he was gone. After all the Auror office was in chaos, Harry knew he was safe, he wasn't going to keep checking up on him...

Remembering Remus' violent vomiting over the edge of the bed in the Hospital Wing, Teddy returned the note to it's envelope and stored it in the deepest pocket of his school robes. He got to his feet and walked purposefully towards the door.

"Don't worry, Dad." he whispered to himself under his breath. "I'm going to save you."

Harry wasn't in the main office when Teddy re-entered it. With any luck, Teddy thought to himself as he spotted Ron and one of the other Aurors having some sort of heated discussion over by the time line, the Deputy Head of Aurors might have left the Ministry all together. Teddy shuffled over to the arguing pair, waited for them to pause for breath before asking:

"Ron?"

"Bit busy for a sec, Ted." Ron told him, without turning round.

"I need the toilet." Teddy explained, and the red haired Auror pointed a blind arm towards the door.

"Left down the corridor, third on the right."

"Okay...where's Harry?"

"Minister's office...if Roger Hanks saw Tonks at six o'clock, there's no way that Gertrude Armitage saw her at five past six..."

Teddy turned and headed for the door, resisting the urge to run. He reached the elevator and jabbed impatiently at the button on the wall, attempting to take deep breaths to calm himself.

"I can do this," he mouthed to himself as the doors opened and a couple of people got out of the lift and he hurried inside. "I can do this...just...just get to the Atrium..." he pressed the corresponding button and felt a strange sense of achievement when some minutes later the doors opened and a voice informed him that he had arrived at his destination. As usual the Atrium was flooded with people rushing in all directions, nobody noticed the grey haired child making a dash for the floo. Teddy kept his gaze upon the shiny marble floor, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He felt as though hundreds of eyes were staring at him, and yet he forced one foot in front of the other, stumbling when people brushed past him, muttering apologies under their breaths. Once he had reached one of the fireplaces, he glanced nervously around, just to make sure people weren't really all staring, before reaching determinedly for the floo powder. As he disappeared in a burst of emerald flame, Teddy felt a leap of hope. He was out of the Ministry, nobody was going to stop him now, he was sure of it.

Teddy stumbled out of the fireplace and into the kitchen of his family home, reaching to brush soot from his hair. The room appeared to have been untouched since his father had cooked him breakfast the morning he had been due to return to Hogwarts. The frying pan was still soaking in the sink and one of Remus' jumpers had been abandoned over the back of one of the dining chairs. Teddy wandered over and picked it up, pressing the material to his face and breathing in deeply. For a brief moment, his vision engulfed by darkness, Teddy felt calm wash over him. The jumper smelt of the cologne that his grandmother had gifted his father at Christmas, the wool felt soft against his skin. He didn't want to move, he wanted to stay there frozen in a little bubble of calm, where he could pretend that everything was going to be fine, pretend that he felt brave.

Even Gryffindors got scared sometimes, he realized as he reluctantly lifted his face away from the jumper. But sometimes it was okay to be afraid, he would not let it stop him, not when his parents needed his help. How many times had Harry been scared when he was younger? How petrified had he been to stand and face Voldemort, the most feared dark wizard of the age? And how scared had all those students felt, desperately defending themselves from the countless Death Eaters who had swarmed into Hogwarts all those years ago, striking dead anybody in their path?

Had they stopped fighting? Had they given up trying?

No, they had not. Not the Gryffindors, not the Ravenclaws, not the Hufflepuffs or the Slytherins. Not anybody.

Not Teddy, either.

Jumper still in hand, Teddy made for the stairs, his footsteps loud as he marched upstairs and into his parents' bedroom. He undressed quickly, leaving his robes in a pile upon the floor, before looking inside the wardrobe and grabbing a random selection of his father's clothes. Once he had put them on, he went to look in the mirror, careful not to trip over the too-long trouser legs.

A few moments later, Remus Lupin headed downstairs to the living room, a bundle of Hogwarts robes under one arm and a shiny golden key in one hand, that he stored deep in the inside pocket of his robes. He stuffed the robes into a bag that had been left in the hallway, before proceeding to the kitchen and flooing the the Leaky Cauldron.

Teddy had no idea just how well known his father had become over the years. He tried to keep his head down and not appear alarmed when a few strangers waved or called greetings to him in the street. Nobody attempted any real conversation, though, and he managed to reach the steps of Gringott's Bank without too much trouble.

But then he heard an excited voice calling to him and there came the sound of light feet running across the pavement.

"Uncle Remus!"

Teddy froze, forcing himself to take a deep breath as the footsteps halted beside him and a small hand reached to tug the sleeve of his father's robes. He turned to find himself looking down at the beaming face of young James Potter.

"You're better!" James enthused, bouncing up and down on his heels excitedly. "Mummy said you were terribly sick!"

Teddy cleared his throat and, trying to make his voice far lower, hoarser, told the boy:

"That's right, but I'm feel much better now." He glanced over the top of James' head rather worriedly, before asking: "Where is Gi...your mother?"

"She's left me with Auntie Angelina so she can go to the Order meeting at Grandma's house. They're looking for Auntie Dora!"

"And where is Auntie Angelina?" Again, Teddy glanced around nervously.

"She's in Madam Malkin's." As Teddy was silently thankful that James had wandered off on his own, Harry's son giggled as he said: "Your voice sounds funny."

Teddy forced himself to smile again, desperately trying to think of what to say.

"Well..." he began rather uncertainly, drawing in a deep, calming breath. "That's...that's what happens...when you've been really sick. Sometimes it makes your voice...different."

"Why aren't you at the meeting?" James asked curiously, and Teddy resisted the urge to turn and flee from the question. Willing himself to think quickly, Teddy plucked a reason out of thin air.

"Well...I was there...but I left. I'm looking for Auntie Dora too...but you must not tell anybody because it's a secret. Don't want the Death Eaters to find out, do we?" As James looked alarmed at the mention of Death Eaters, Teddy attempted to fix a firm expression onto his father's face as he said: "You know, it's naughty of you to go wandering off like this. Your Auntie Angelina will be worried about you."

As if on cue, a voice called:

"James? James Potter, when I get hold of you, I swear..."

James' eyes widened a little and he hurriedly mumbled:

"Bye Uncle Remus!"

"Bye James." Teddy replied, equally as hurried as he spotted Angelina Weasley making her way through the crowded street. He and James fled in opposite directions.

Teddy had never particularly liked goblins, they made him feel a little uneasy. As he made his way towards the desk that ran along one side of the room, he couldn't help but jump at the sound of stamps being banged upon documents, or the sound of rubies being poured upon brass scales. He fumbled in his pocket for the golden key, before holding his head high and striding up to one of the goblins who sat eying him from behind the desk.

"What can I do for you today, Professor?" the goblin inquired politely, but Teddy did not feel assured. He shuffled his feet under the probing gaze and held out the key. Again, he cleared his throat and, recalling the exact words that Remus had said the last time Teddy had accompanied him to the bank, recited:

"I wish to make a withdrawal." He held out the key expectantly.

"I see." the goblin's gaze continued to shake the metamorphmagus' confidence, but within moments another goblin had appeared at his side and gestured for him to follow.

Teddy had ridden through the underground tunnels on a great number of occasions, indeed he always accompanied his parents to the bank if he could because he enjoyed shooting along the tracks in the carts so much. He would shriek and whoop excitedly, holding his arms in the air to feel the wind rush past him. The goblins always looked disapproving, Tonks would attempt to force his arms down to stop him battering them on the low ceiling and Remus would request his silence: _I feel ill enough being tossed from side to side without you shrieking in my ear, too._

This time, however, Teddy was completely silent. He sat with his hands firmly in his lap, bolt upright in an attempt to ignore the twisting of his stomach as the cart hurtled downwards, vault doors and corridors flashing by at alarming speed. After some minutes the brakes were slammed on, and Teddy was jolted in his seat, causing him to gasp. Feeling shaken, he careful clambered out of the cart and watched as the goblin set about unlocking the vault. As the door swung open and Teddy came face to face with the Lupin family savings, neat stacks of gold, silver and bronze, the boy found himself suddenly paralyzed with fear.

Just what would Remus say to hear that his son had been so utterly deceitful, sneaking away from the Aurors and stealing gold from his parents' vault?

And what would Tonks think of him giving in to the demands of Death Eaters just like that?

Secretly, the voice in the back of Teddy's head assured him, Dad would be proud. He is a Marauder, after all, and deceiving the Deputy Head of Aurors...well it was rather clever, wasn't it? And he had no choice but to give in to the demands! Surely both of his parents would be able to see that? It was only a bit of gold, after all. They might miss a holiday in the summer, perhaps, but they would get it back soon enough and what was a silly summer holiday compared to life itself?

If Remus and Tonks died, there would be no family holidays at all. Ever.

Yes, there was more to life than gold, his parents knew that for sure. And so Teddy opened up his bag, stepped over the threshold, and began shoveling handfuls of gold inside, attempting to ignore just how guilty he felt about it.

All too soon, Teddy found himself stood atop the steps of Gringott's Bank, blinking rapidly at the bright sunshine of the chilly January afternoon. As his eyes ached at the sudden brightness, it occurred to Teddy that he had just one thing left to do. He had the bag held tightly in two hands, so heavy with gold that he was at risk of dropping it. Just how would that look, he wondered, if he dropped the bag and flooded the pavement with gold coins? The very idea made him shudder.

_Concentrate Teddy_, he told himself firmly, _this is no time to panic_, _Mum and Dad need help quickly!_

_First things first, drop this morph and get out of Dad's clothes. Can't risk another episode like the one with James earlier..._

Teddy headed for the nearest alleyway, and, crouching down behind a stack of dilapidated cauldrons and cardboard boxes, he hurriedly morphed back to his usual self, hair a conservative brown, and changed back into his school robes. As he shoved his father's clothes hurriedly into the bag, his nerves finally got the better of him and he felt tears in his eyes. For some time he simple stayed put, crouched down upon the dirty cobbles, sobbing uncontrollably at the realization that he had nearly completed his task.

And at the end, he thought woefully, petrified at the very thought, he was going to meet the Death Eaters.

He thought back to Christmas at the Potters' house, sat in the living room opening presents. He distinctly remembered Harry watching him unwrap his fourth book with a grin upon his face.

"He's Remus' son for sure," his godfather had muttered to Tonks who was sat beside him, and Teddy had felt pleased.

Crouched in the alleyway, face pink with tears and breaths shallow and salty, Teddy wished Harry's words had been more than just slightly true. Teddy could not comprehend the notion that Remus had ever cried at the thought of facing Death Eaters, not even back when he had just finished school.

At eleven, younger than Teddy himself, had Harry cried when faced with Voldemort demanding he hand over the Philosopher's Stone? Teddy thought not.

But he wasn't Remus, and he wasn't Harry either. What did it matter what other people were capable of?

For ten whole minutes, Teddy stayed crouched in the alley, crying miserably at his shattered nerves, He couldn't do it, he simply couldn't. He'd tried his best, but to go down Knockturn Alley looking for Death Eaters...no. No, it was too much. Far too much...

How did people do it? To think during a war his parents could have remained so calm, so...casual!

Teddy recalled the events that his parents had shown him in the pensieve a few months previously: his mother's jokes about Bellatrix Lestrange, her concern that, with Death Eaters about to break down her door and attempt to kill her, she didn't have time to change out of her pajamas, his father's fearless stroll into a trap he knew all too well was waiting for him, their joking about his run in with the werewolves that had left him to stumble through the back door of the Burrow and drop to the floor, out cold.

How could anybody manage such things? How?

However they did it, Teddy reasoned with himself, reaching to swipe furiously at the tears upon his face, he best learn to copy them quickly. _Remember, Dad doesn't have all that much time_...

_Just stand up. Stand up and start walking. That's all there is to it. Just walk. _

And so it was that Teddy Lupin stumbled across the street, down Knockturn Alley and disappeared around a dark corner, tears still trickling down his face. Nobody noticed the crying boy, nor where he was going, they were all too focused on their shopping.

Nobody heard the commotion that occurred in the dark alleyway mere moments later, either. A panicked cry had barely pierced the air before there came the gentle pop of disapparation.

Besides, the shoppers were far too interested in the drama that suddenly began to unfold back in Diagon Alley.

"Look Mum!" a little girl cried excitedly as a loud series of cracks disturbed the hustle and bustle of the street. "Look! It's Harry Potter!"

"So it is!" her mother said, as the man in question came sprinting down the cobbles, flanked by two other scarlet-clad Aurors. "Well, they seem to be in a hurry, don't they?" As the Aurors began frantically calling for somebody named Teddy, she took hold of the little girl's hand and led her away up the street. "Come along," she said cheerfully as another Auror with red hair apparated in front of the shop opposite and made a beeline for Gringott's, bellowing for Teddy just like the others. "I'll buy you an ice cream."


	8. A Little Faith

_Note: Thank you to everybody who has reviewed! I'm gradually getting less ill, so I shall be doing far more writing! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any money from this writing._

**8: A Little Faith**

Black. Nothing but black and the footsteps, heavy boots upon stone, throbbing knees from his fall and sore shoulders that were being gripped with vice-like hands, a dead weight.

And then there came a chilling, horrible noise, a cracked, terrified sob that sent a shiver down his spine.

It was not until his captor gave him a firm shake to stop the noise that Teddy Lupin realized that the hideous sound had come from his own lips, muffled by the sack that had been deposited over his head.

Oh Merlin, how could he have been so utterly foolish? So completely naïve? Only a stupid, pathetic little boy would think that former Death Eaters would be after money from members of the Order of the Phoenix. What possible joy would it give them? No, murder was far more satisfying...

_They're going to murder me_, Teddy thought frantically,_ they'll line the three of us up and kill us one by one..._

His parents could be dead already. They could have been dead for hours, he could be entirely alone...and Merlin...the thought of it!

Suddenly, he was pulled to an abrupt halt and the sack was pulled roughly from his head. Blinking against the sudden light of the room that he now found himself in, Teddy felt a sudden urge to close his eyes again, too petrified at the thought of what he might see.

That was until he heard a familiar voice cry:

"Teddy!"

"Mum!" Teddy blinked his eyes rapidly to clear his vision, just as his captor gave him a firm push forwards and he heard the sound of a door being closed firmly behind him.

The room was square, made of crumbling bricks and to his left Teddy spotted a silent, statuesque figure dressed in black robes, hood drawn firmly over their face. Teddy took a few steps away from the person, who was holding a wand firmly in one hand, and at last laid eyes upon his parents.

Tonks was sat cross-legged up against one wall, Remus' head in her lap, hands raking gently through his hair in an almost rhythmic and bizarrely calm manner. Her pink was hair in disarray, swept back from her face that was far whiter than usual, darkened by an uncharacteristically grim expression. There was something horribly resigned about the way she watched her son stumble hurriedly towards her with his arms spread wide, as if she had been expecting to see him, no matter how much she had hoped otherwise.

When his gaze came to focus upon his father, Teddy's desire to rush over and hug the pair of them with relief suddenly disappeared. The werewolf's face was a lifeless grey colour and he lay motionlessly on the floor, limbs limp and eyes firmly closed.

_They've killed my dad_, the child thought numbly as he stumbled forward, Remus' ghostly face searing his eyes. He fell to his knees beside his mother, reaching to grab hold of Remus' hand. _He's gone, Dad's gone..._

As he felt Tonks' arm wrap firmly around his shoulders, tears made the awful scene swim dreadfully before his eyes and Teddy gasped for breath, a strangled noise in his throat.

"Th...they've...they've k...killed Dad!" He cried, voice high with shock. "Mum...they...they killed him!"

Tonks' grip upon him tightened and she flinched at his wailing.

"Teddy..." she began, voice the model of calm, but Teddy did not appear to hear her. He wrenched himself free of her grasp and flopped forwards, burying his face in Remus' shoulder, shaking with tears.

"I...I'm sorry Dad! I'm so sorry..."

"Listen to me, Teddy..."

"If...if I'd woken up...if I'd stayed awake...I...I could've...I'm sorry! Please, Dad! Please don't leave me..."

"Teddy!"

"I...I don't w...want you to be gone!"

"Teddy!"

Remus coughed.

Teddy jumped, sitting bolt upright as he stared down at the wizard in surprise. Over by the door, the dark robed guard let out a low, mocking chuckle.

"I reckon Dad heard you." Tonks observed, arm back around Teddy's shoulders as the child drew in a series of deep, calming breaths, slumping against his mother's side. "Like I was just telling you, love, he's not dead." At the sight of a tar-like substance seeping from the werewolf's lips and down the side of his face, the Head of Aurors reached to wipe it away with the sleeve of her robes, muttering: "Not yet, at least." She glanced round to fix her son with a firm stare. "Listen, Teddy. He's not dead yet, but he doesn't have long." She held out the sleeve of her robes for the boy's inspection, and he glanced down at the dark series of steins upon the scarlet material worriedly. "The poison's filling up his lungs."

"W...what do we do?" Teddy asked, reaching to grasp hold of Remus' hand again. His eyes bulged disbelievingly when Tonks said:

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"There is nothing we can do, love. I'm not a healer and this certainly isn't a hospital."

"So...so we just..."

"There are only three things to be done in a situation such as this." Tonks told him, her voice still eerily calm. "I can still see Mad-Eye waving his stick at the blackboard back when I was doing my first month of training."

"What things?" Teddy asked, and he too felt an odd sort of calm wash over him at the prospect of the clear and precise instructions of Alastor Moody.

"Number One," Tonks recited, free hand coming to rest against Remus' cheek, thumb scuffing his paper-like skin soothingly. "Remain calm."

Well, Teddy thought as Remus let out another series of choking coughs, at least his mother seemed to be managing that one with perfect ease. Wandless, locked up in a dark room with nobody except a hysterical little boy and an armed guard, husband quietly inching his way towards death in one corner, and one would think that she was sat at home on the sofa with a cup of tea, recalling memories of her youth. And Remus had claimed she was melodramatic! Then again, she had been here for a long time and melodrama was far harder to maintain than calmness. It was her job to be calm, after all...

"Number Two," the Head of Aurors continued, eying their surroundings in demonstration. "Constant Vigilance! Obviously."

Teddy turned to stare at her. Had that been a joke? A joke? Here? Now? How in Merlin's name could she...

"And finally Number Three." Tonks stopped gazing aimlessly around the room and reached down to pick up a small fragment of brick that had no doubt fallen from the crumbling walls. Her voice darkened a little as she said: "Never assume that somebody is coming to rescue you."

Teddy hung his head miserably, sniffing as fresh tears threatened to spill down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Mum." he whispered shamefully. "They told me they'd let you both go if I got them a thousand galleons...I should've shown the note to Harry or somebody...they'd have known it was stupid..." he trailed off into silence, sighing heavily.

Tonks carefully set the lump of brick down behind her and reached to pull him into a firm hug, allowing him to bury his face in her robes as she gently rocked the two of them back and forth, careful not to disturb Remus' head in her lap.

"It doesn't matter, love. You only did what you thought was best, you didn't know they were lying..."

"Of course they were! It's obvious!"

"It's obvious now. Everything's obvious when you look back at it, Teddy. Don't you worry, everything is going to be okay."

"But...but...oh Mum!" Teddy whimpered, clinging to the front of her robes in an attempt to make her see sense, for how could she sound so certain? "The Aurors have no idea where we are! I've heard them!"

"Shhh." Tonks closed her eyes, and when Teddy glanced up at her face a small frown had creased her brow as if she were trying to concentrate. "What did I say? Never assume that somebody is going to rescue you. It doesn't matter what Harry and the others are doing. Just...have a little faith."

Teddy immediately stopped crying.

Have a little faith? What did Tonks mean? What did she know that Teddy did not?

Did she have a _plan_?

Teddy drew away from her side and stared intently at her face, searching for some sort of answer. Her eyes were still firmly closed, lips pursed together in a blank expression that gave no hints away whatsoever.

A soft scraping noise drew the boy's attention and he glanced down at the floor just visible between Tonks' back and the wall. The lump of brick appeared to be drifting across the floor of it's own accord. Teddy watched it come to a halt, before Tonks' hand reached carefully to retrieve it. She set it back in it's original position and, after a brief pause, it began to move again.

_You know what that is, don't you?_ Teddy thought to himself almost excitedly, a glimmer of hope touching the horizon, _that's non-verbal, wandless magic! _

"Mum..." he began, eyes wide in surprise, only for Tonks to assure him:

"Everything's going to be fine."

Teddy had never seen his mother perform magic without a wand before, least of all in silence. Indeed, such things were more his father's forte, lighting fires in the winter with a simple blink usually earned Remus a slap on the arm as Tonks muttered _show off_ under her breath. It was difficult, complex magic. Only really clever people could manage it, Teddy recalled Tonks telling him some years previously when Remus had summoned the box of corn flakes from across the breakfast table one morning. _Clever people, or in your dad's case smug gits with too much spare time on their hands to practice with. _

But how long had Tonks been here? One, two, even three days?

It would be fair to say, Teddy realized as the brick fragment made yet another, much faster trip across the floor, that Tonks had had a lot of spare time on her hands.

And maybe he was biased, but Teddy liked to think that his mother counted as one of those clever people. As Ron had said, she wasn't the Head of Aurors for nothing...

Teddy was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a hideous gagging noise. He looked down, startled at the sight of Remus' face contorting as his mere coughing suddenly worsened, foul black sludge clogging his throat as he attempted to gasp for breath.

Tonks' eyes snapped open wide and she immediately reached to hook her arms around him before heaving him up into a sitting position, his head flopping forwards, eyes still closed as if the only energy he had to spare was consumed by his choking.

"Hang in there, Remus," Teddy heard his mother murmur pleadingly. "Not long now, love, I promise."  
The werewolf gave one last violent cough and Teddy gasped to see a flood of black gunge spew from his lips, staining the front of his robes a mottled black and crimson.

"There's blood." Teddy observed worriedly, and again Tonks wiped the mess away with her sleeve and inspected it, the crimson addition shaking her calm facade somewhat, eyes squeezed closed in an attempt to keep a hold of her composure.

"Oh Merlin," she breathed, leaning to rest her chin upon her husband's shoulder with a heavy sigh. "I've been telling you that for hours, haven't I? Not long now, not long now..." she sighed again, turning her face to the side so that she could stare at his motionless face. "Keep on saying it and you won't have not long left...and now Teddy's here..." she trailed off into silence and as she pressed a kiss to Remus' cheek Teddy was worried that there were tears in her eyes. "Remus," she whispered, voice barely loud enough for Teddy to make out. "I'll fix this, I promise...I just...well...what if it goes wrong? I'll only get one chance...fail and they'll kill us on the spot..."

As he watched his mother bury her face in his father's neck, her arms around him hugging him fiercely, Teddy felt a sudden urge to grab hold of her by the shoulder and give her a firm shake. She had been so calm, he'd just started to feel hopeful, almost safe. She couldn't break down now, he needed her strength...

"Listen to me," he heard her whisper, lips pressed to Remus' ear. "Listen to me, Remus, because I'm only going to say this once. _I love you_. I hope you're listening, I can't keep repeating myself, you'll make me crack." she drew in a steadying breath, as if to ensure she didn't do just that. "And one other thing, Remus, listen because this is really important. Once this is all over, once I've busted us out of here and you get better, you owe me breakfast in bed. Full English...and pancakes...and tea...no, champagne. You got that? I want champagne. And you're going to do the washing up afterwards, too. Okay?"

There was no response.

"Good." she continued anyway, pressing another kiss to his cheek. And with that she carefully shifted to the side and carefully eased him back onto the floor. She got slowly to her feet, legs stiff from sitting for so long, and shrugged the red robes from her shoulders.

Over by the door, their captive watched her closely as she folded them up as a make-shift pillow and tucked them under Remus' head.

"Stay put, Teddy." she practically mouthed, and Teddy opened his mouth questioningly, only to watch apprehensively as she straightened up, turned on her heel and began to stride across the room towards the armed guard in the corner.

Heart hammering in his chest, Teddy shifted closer to Remus' side and watched the scene unfold, frightened when a deep voice demanded:

"Sit down!"

Tonks came to a halt just in front of the man, holding her arms out in an innocent gesture.

"What...a girl can't stretch her legs round here?" she asked incredulously, much to Teddy's shock.

The tip of the man's wand jabbed Tonks threateningly in the throat, and Teddy failed suppress a shriek of:

"Mum!"

Face towards the ceiling, holding her hands up in submission, Tonks took a tiny step backwards.

"Yeah, okay," she agreed rather hurriedly. "You're the boss, right? I'll just...you know..." she took another step backwards...

_Crack_!

Teddy gasped as a loose brick suddenly came free from the wall, hovering momentarily before plummeting downwards, striking the man hard upon the head. The blow knocked him to the floor and the wand flew from his hand, soaring up into the air before landing triumphantly upon the floor.

As Tonks turned to dash over and snatch up the fallen object, Teddy resisted the urge to let out a whoop of triumph, only to spot the fallen man's hand shoot forward, grabbing Tonks by the ankle and tripping her up. The Auror hit the ground with a sharply exhaled groan, thrusting a hand forward, reaching for the wand...

Only for the dark robed man to push himself upwards just enough throw himself forward, knocking the air from her lungs and pinning her to the ground as he landed flat atop of her, hands fumbling to restrain her arms.

Teddy watched in what seemed to him to be horrifying slow motion as Tonks' fingers, mere milometers from their goal, were yanked away as the man tugged furiously on her arm. She did little to struggle, still gasping for breath from the sudden weight upon her back, and Teddy wanted to scream at her, at everything, as their one chance of escape was slipping away before his very eyes.


	9. The Dream Team

_Note: For Kuroida, because she was kind enough to update her fic too! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this writing._

**9: The Dream Team**

Tonks' eyes were fixed upon the wand as she wrenched her arm free again, reaching for a second time, only to feel a hand grasp hold of the back of her hair, pulling her head backwards with a painful throb in her scalp.

As Teddy watched in horror as the man shoved his mother's face into the stone floor, breaking her nose with a ugly crunch, the child reached to shake Remus urgently by the shoulder.

"Dad!" he squeaked as Tonks' head was yanked backwards again, revealing the damage in all it's bloody glory. "Do something!"

Unsurprisingly, Remus gave no response.

Let's be honest, the voice inside Teddy's voice suggested as Tonks managed to elbow the man somewhat feebly in the jaw, the only one left fit to do anything here is you...

Instantly snapped out of his horror-stricken daze, Teddy scrambled to his feet and dashed across the room, lunging for the wand himself. His fingers closed around the handle and he straightened up, drawing a deep, breath as both of the struggling pair froze, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"_Remember," Remus said as he stood before the assembled members of the Hogwarts Dueling Club. "Keep a firm grip on your wand!"_

Teddy gripped the handle of the wand until his knuckles whitened.

"_Feet spread out so you don't overbalance!"_

Teddy adopted his basic battle stance.

"_Stay focused, be calm, no panicking! And enunciate! I want to hear every single syllable perfectly clearly! Now, wands ready and repeat after me..."_

"Petrificus Totalus!" Teddy bellowed, elated at the sight of a jet of light shooting from the end of the wand, striking the man squarely between the shoulder blades. The man froze, limbs snapping to his sides, rigid as a board.

"Ha!" Tonks grinned, wincing as Teddy hurried to help her disentangle herself from their victim. "That's my boy! If your dad could see you, Teddy, he'd split his face smiling, I swear it..."

As he waited for her to stagger to her feet before offering her the wand, Teddy could not help but disagree with her. Remus smiled at a lot of things that other people would scowl at – James Potter demonstrating just how loud he could scream, Chester Burton's daft responses to questions in class, Tonks serving dinner despite having burnt it to a crisp. But his son forced into incapacitating a Death Eater to save his wife from having her skull cracked open against a hard stone floor? What was even remotely smile-worthy about that?

Teddy numbly followed Tonks back over to where Remus lay seemingly oblivious to the world.

"Wotcher, Remus." the boy heard her murmur to the werewolf as she dropped to her knees beside him. "You're doing great, love. Just hang in there, okay? Just a little longer." She reached into the pocket of his robes and retrieved a handkerchief, hastily mopping the blood from her face. Once the blood had mostly gone and she had mended her nose with a muttered word and a wave of the stolen wand, Teddy began to feel a little calmer again.

That was until Tonks lent to kiss Remus once upon the forehead before straightening up and heading towards the door.

"Let's go, Teddy." she instructed, glancing back at him expectantly.

Teddy simply stared at her, confused.

"But...what about Dad?"

"Dad's staying here. Come on, we don't have all day."

"But...but we can't just leave him here!"

"We can hardly take him with us either."

"Well...well you could...conjour a stretcher...or...or something..."

Tonks' expression was deeply regretful as she told him:

"We've only got one wand, love, and we're not about to just stroll out of here, are we? Wouldn't be much of an imprisonment if we could do that. Speaking of which...it's only a matter of time before somebody figures out what we've done. We need to go..."

"But..."

"Now, Teddy."

Teddy glanced down at Remus again, reluctant to leave him.

"I could...I could stay with him." he began, reaching to adjust the makeshift pillow under the werewolf's head. "I mean...I'm not much use am I? I...I don't have a wand or...or anything..."

"You reckon I should leave you here all on your own?" Tonks strode over and reached down to grasp him firmly by the arm, pulling him almost roughly to his feet. "Merlin, Teddy, I know I'm not the best parent in the world, but I'm not a complete idiot! I'm getting you out of here as quickly as is humanly possible, you hear me? When we're out we'll send for help, then once the coast is clear I'll come back and get Dad. Okay?" She didn't wait to hear what Teddy thought of this plan, she gave him a firm push towards the door. Shooting one last glance at her husband, she told him: "I'll be back before you know it, Remus, so don't go dying. I mean it, you dare die on me and I swear, I'll set fire to your book collection." And with that she stalked over to the door, Teddy hurrying along behind her. Tonks reached to test the handle, finding that it had been left unlocked.

"Amateurs." Teddy heard her mutter rather smugly under her breath.

Once Tonks had deemed the coast to be clear, the two of them set off down the corridor, their progression slow, cautious.

"You'd think Death Eaters would be better at this kind of thing." Teddy commented after a moment, the silence being far too tense for his liking, and at his words Tonks gave a somewhat superior snort.

"Death Eaters!" she muttered disbelievingly. "Which idiot told you they were Death Eaters?"

"Nobody...well...Dad said it was possible..."

"Possible? Yes. Probably? Absolutely not. Personally I would've preferred Death Eaters, it would've been far more interesting. Not to mention how great it makes me look when I throw them in Azkaban, we'd have made the front page of the Prophet..." Tonks halted her whispering and came to such an abrupt halt that Teddy almost walked straight into the back of her.

"Is somebody there?" Teddy hissed, only for the Auror to reached back to clamp a firm hand over his mouth.

"Quiet!" Tonks instructed, the single word little more than a sharply exhaled breath, and she raised the stolen wand, grip firm upon the handle.

At the sound of footsteps, Teddy felt nervous bubbling up inside of him, he hunched his shoulders in an attempt to cower behind his mother.

"Just...don't...move..." Tonks told him slowly, taking the smallest of steps forward in order to peer around the corner. No sooner has she caught a glimpse of what lay ahead, she drew hastily back again, flattening herself up against the wall. Teddy hurriedly followed suit.

The footsteps stopped abruptly and Teddy felt his heart give a jolt as a woman's voice called:

"Lysander! Lysander, I heard voices!"

Tonks squeezed her eyes closed and muttered:

"Shit."

Teddy was vaguely aware that he ought be shocked at such language, but he was much too busy feeling panic assault his insides.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed as Tonks' eyes snapped back open again. "There's only one of them...right? You can...you can take one, right?"

Tonks pushed back from the wall, drawing in a deep breath.

"'Course I can." she muttered, and Teddy could not help but get the impression that she was not entirely sure. He did not get the chance to ask anything else, though, for quite suddenly she sprung out from their hiding place and, thrusting the wand forwards, sent a stunning jinx streaking down the corridor. Teddy had barely heard the heavy thud of the woman hitting the floor before Tonks seized him by the arm and pulled him around the corner after her.

"Run." she instructed simply, and with that Teddy found himself sprinting down the corridor, his arm aching in protest as she dragged him along behind her.

"I can't run any faster!" he protested as they approached the lifeless figure of an old woman upon the floor. As they passed, Tonks stuck out an arm, pointing.

"That," she informed her son as they bolted around the next corner and up a new corridor. "Is Agatha Rowle, whose son, Thorfinn, I just locked up in Azkaban. That guy whose keeping Dad company back in the holding room was Thorfinn's son Oraphin..."

"Ma?" a deep, alarmed voice cried from somewhere behind them, and Teddy flinched at the sound of it.

"And that," Tonks continued, aiming the wand at the door that they were fast approaching, causing it to fling itself open just in time for them to dash through it. "That would be Thorfinn's older brother Lysander Rowle."

Teddy's breath caught in his throat as he gasped, stumbling a little as they ran across what appeared to be a bare looking entrance hall.

"As in...as in Lysander Rowle who...who..."

"Who killed the three Aurors and six muggles two years ago at the Dawn Hill Masscre? Yep, that's him." Tonks hurried caused the final set of doors to open and Teddy found himself being dragged out into the bitter cold of a forest in early January. Tonks did not pause at the sudden icy air that struck them as they left the building, she simply continued to run towards the cover of the trees. "Now," she said as they picked their way through the greenery, paced slowed as Teddy gasped for breath, heart still hammering in his ears. "He's already knocked me out cold once this past week, so I don't want him catching up with me again!" They came to an abrupt halt and this time Teddy ran straight into the back of her, causing her to stumble, narrowly avoiding falling flat on her face. "I certainly don't want him getting his hands on you." she continued, turning to regard her son rather worriedly. Her hands came to rest upon his shoulders and as she stared down at him, Teddy silently prayed that this was not the end of her plan.

"What about Dad?" he asked, biting his lip worriedly at the thought of Lysander Rowle back in the building, Remus helplessly sick and at his mercy.

"I'm going to go and get him." Tonks said, tightening her grip upon his shoulders. "And you, Teddy, are going to wait here."

Teddy's eyes widened in alarm, he reached to grasp hold of the front of his mother's robes.

"Don't leave me!" he begged frantically, tears immediately clouding his eyes. "Please Mum! I...I'm scared!"

Tonks reached to cup his face in her hands, her expression firm.

"Listen to me, love," she said as Teddy instantly dissolved into tears. "Listen carefully. Your dad is very sick. Very, very sick..."

"Please, Mum..."

"...I am going to send for the Order and they are going to alert the Aurors. But I don't have time to wait for them..."

"Don't go..."

"...if I don't go now there is a very good chance..."

"No! No, no, no!"

"...that your dad will die."

"No!"

"And that is why, Teddy, you are going to wait here for the Aurors to arrive. You are going to climb this tree here, morph your hair green and your skin dark, and you are going to hide until they arrive..."

"I don't want you to go..."

"Listen to what I'm saying, Teddy: If Dad doesn't get to the hospital soon, if I don't get to him and take him there, he might die."

Teddy's mouth fell open in shocked realization and despair, but no words came out.

"Get up the tree." Tonks told him, face suddenly firm, stoic.

Numbly, Teddy did as he was told. As he carefully morphed his hair to match the leaves around him he watched Tonks send her patronus shooting off into the distance. She looked up at him, face scrutinizing, until quite suddenly her expression softened.

"Don't worry, love." she told him comfortingly as he swiped at the tears upon his face. "I'm not going to let Dad die, I promise. Everything is going to turn out just fine. You just need to be brave for me, okay?"

She watched as the face that was peering down at her turned slowly stoic, mimicking her expression from before. As his skin darkened, Teddy told her:

"Go and get Dad."

Without another word, Tonks turned on her heel and began to stride purposefully back towards the building.

Tonks crept around the side of the building, looking for a different, less obvious way inside. After completing a full circle around the building, finding all of the windows firmly closed, the Auror paused, crouched down beside an abandoned wheelbarrow, and cursed colourfully under her breath. It had been risky, foolish even, she realized, to dash straight out of the front door. It was a miracle that Lysander Rowle, or any other members of the family who were likely to be around, had not caught her and Teddy in their desperate bid for freedom...

A bit too big a miracle, in fact. How could they have let two of their captives escape so easily? What had them so distracted? What were they up to?

_It doesn't matter_, Tonks reminded herself firmly. _Whatever it is, just be thankful for it. Just concentrate on getting Remus out of there_...

How in Merlin's name was she going to manage that? Just as she'd told Teddy earlier, she only had the one wand, she needed help! But help took time. Time that Remus did not have.

_You best hurry up and think of something_, she thought to herself, once again squeezing her eyes firmly closed._ Think fast, because if you were to lose him..._

_Merlin, the thought of it_! Tonks reached to press her thumbs into her eyelids and her eyes ached in protest, attempting to chase the thoughts away.

_I'm too young to be a widow_, she thought miserably, _I'd be too weak to raise Teddy all on my own...this perfect little world of mine would all come crashing down, and I'd crumble along with it._

_We're a team, Remus and me, an unlikely and yet strong, solid team and there is nothing that life could throw at us that could beat us down._

Tonks could still vividly remember being sat in the dingy kitchen of Grimmauld Place, watching Remus make tea as Sirius examined that week's rotor for guard duty in the Department of Mysteries.

"It's the Dream Team's turn tomorrow night!" the Azkaban escapee had announced with a smirk, and before he could say another word Remus had shot him a warning look and muttered:

"Shut up, Padfoot."

"Just 'cause you think we make an awesome team, Sirius, doesn't mean you have to keep banging on about it." Tonks had said as Remus had set down a mug of tea upon the table in front of her.

"Don't get him started." Remus had warned, as Sirius had put down the parchment he was holding in order to fix his two friends with a knowing look.

"You know why you two are the Dream Team, don't you, Moony?" he'd said, smirking again as Remus had sat heavily down beside Tonks, folding his arms somewhat moodily across his chest. "It's not because you're so awesome, as Tonks put it. It's cause you make sure you're together so you can spend your shifts staring at one another with daft, dreamy expressions on your faces..."

Tonks distinctly remembered her face flushing in embarrassment, stung when Remus had observed:

"It's really quite shocking what Fire Whiskey can do to your powers of deduction, Sirius. We're only going together because Hestia has to cancel and I'm the only one with nothing else on."

It had not been long before Sirius had wandered off upstairs to feed Buckbeak, leaving the other two to drink their cups of tea in peace. Tonks had been very quiet for a long time, still hurt at how determined to dismiss Sirius' insinuations Remus had been, until she couldn't stand the silence any longer and announced:

"Well I don't care what you or Sirius think! I still reckon we do make a great team!"

And Remus had looked up from staring absently at the steam rising from his mug, a twinkle in his eyes that Tonks could still recall with glorious, heart-warming clarity.

"I know we do." he'd said with the smallest of smiles. "That's why I told Hestia to take the night off, so I could come with you instead."

They were a great team. Separation was not an option. Tonks could not even comprehend the emptiness, the dead hole, the endless pain in her heart and ache in her soul. It would kill her, she was sure of it, and Teddy...Merlin what would happen to Teddy...?

_Love is for wimps_, she recalled telling her mother at the young age of ten, whilst complaining about the soppy romance novel that she had discovered upon the arm of Andromeda's armchair. Tonks wondered if it were possible for her to have been more wrong. Love was a risk, a risk taken rashly, or perhaps without choice. And Merlin, you had to be brave, because it could slip away from you just like that...

She would not let it slip away. Remus was not going to die. It wasn't going to happen. Not on her watch.

And so it was that Remus' wife pulled herself together, marched around to the back of the building, drew in a deep breath, before blasting one of the windows off it's hinges. She didn't care how many people heard her. She didn't care if they all came running. She'd strike down every last single one of them.

They would regret the day they even considered capturing the Lupins, she would make sure of that.


	10. Lost and Found

_Note: A chapter for you before I disappear off on holiday for a few days! Enjoy! =)_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**10: Lost and Found**

Back flat against the wall, listening to the sound of pounding footsteps out in the corridor beyond, Tonks drew a deep, calming breath, willing herself to concentrate. Grip tight upon the wand that she clutched in her hand, the Auror pushed herself back from the wall, tuning to face the open doorway. She took definite aim at the approaching man and sent a stunning jinx speeding down the corridor, only to find it streaking right back at her as he deflected it with a furious swipe of his wand. She sidestepped it just in time, hearing the window in the room behind her shatter as the spell smashed straight through it and out into the trees beyond.

Teddy gave a startled jump at the sound of smashing glass, grip upon his perch tightening at the sight of a flash of red lighting up the trees before him.

Not for the first time, the boy silently begged the Aurors to hurry up and arrive. What was taking them so long, anyway? Surely one glimpse of his mother's patronus and they ought all come running...

Suddenly, a rustling sound from somewhere to his right caught Teddy's attention and he stiffened, holding his breath. He peered through the trees, down towards the ground and, after taking a long moment to squint searchingly, spotted a large, dark figure making a slow progression deeper into the forest, dragging something shrouded in cloth along behind them. As the person disappeared from view, Teddy leaned carefully forwards, trying to catch a second glimpse.

_Who was that_? He wondered,_ and what were they doing_?

For a brief moment, Teddy felt tempted to jump down from his hiding place and go and investigate, but then he recalled the deathly serious look upon Tonks' face just before she had left him.

Hide here until the Aurors arrive...

No, he wasn't going anywhere. He would stay put, just as his mother had told him to...

But what if it was important? What if somebody was escaping? The Aurors weren't here to catch them!

Maybe, Teddy mused, he should just go and have a peek, just to see who it was...

He'd come straight back, it would be as if he had never moved, then when the Aurors arrived he could tell them what he had seen...

Mind made up, Teddy carefully disentangled himself from the branch and dropped down onto the forest floor. He set off after the figure, footsteps soft and cautious upon the ground.

When she finally succeeded in knocking her opponent flying halfway down the corridor and into a wall with a loud thud, Tonks felt no real relief. It was taking much too long, she was running out of time...

She set off down the corridor at a sprint, slowing only to stoop and snatch up the wizard's wand and shove into her pocket. She vaguely wondered just who the unconscious man was, she did not recognize him, but since he was no longer a threat she did not care much for an answer.

The door to the room that she and Teddy had broken out of was still open, and Tonks was so bordering on frantic that she did not stop to check that the coast was clear, she simply dashed inside, coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the room.

It was empty.

Tonks froze, eyes darting from side to side, finally coming to rest upon the bare corner where, a short while earlier, she had left her husband lying upon the cool stone floor, his head cushioned by her discarded robes as he struggled to draw short, gasping breaths.

_He's gone..._

_He can't be..._

Tonks began to slowly turn, scrutinizing every inch of floor, every grimy brick in the wall, the damp ceiling, as if somewhere, somehow, she would spot signs of life. Once she had completed a full circle and, unsurprisingly, found nothing, she went back to staring at the empty corner.

"Remus...?" she called hesitantly, and the silence that followed made her stomach clench.

_He's gone. They've taken him..._

_And you have no idea where... _

_He's going to die. You know it. He's probably already dead..._

Tonks drew in a deep breath and held it, eyes screwed shut and teeth clenched as she struggled not to allow her knees to buckle.

_It's too late..._

Tears blurred her vision and she felt her whole body trembling, arms limp at her sides as she gripped hold of her wand, desperate to hold onto something, to have something, as the world seemed to slip away around her.

"They haven't come back," Kingsley had told her, all those years ago in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, amid the chaos of battle as they had gathered for one last stand against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "They left for the grounds ages ago, Remus gathered them together and led them out there and we've not seen a single one of them since. Not a single one."

He'd been gone then, too. He'd been dead. But she hadn't given in, she hadn't believed it, she'd shouted at Kingsley to stop, to shut up and be quiet because he was wrong. He could not possibly be right, there was no way that she could listen to him. It hadn't mattered that Remus was nowhere to be seen. It hadn't mattered that he had disappeared, or that the last people to have seen him claimed that he had been going to his death.

"Show me his body." she'd told Kingsley fiercely, turning her back on him and facing the doors. "You show me his body and I'll believe that he's dead. Until then, Kingsley, you just shut up, I don't want to listen to you lying."

And sure enough, a mere two minutes before the doors had been magically sealed in anticipation of Voldemort's final assault, Remus had slipped into the room, robes stained with mud, a shallow wound upon one shoulder, face gravely pale, but otherwise unscathed. He had silently made his way to stand beside her. For a long moment he had scrutinized every inch of her, taking note that she was alive and perfectly well, and she had done the same to him. They'd exchanged a brief glance, silent reassurance, before turning their attention to the doors.

Against all the odds, they had both survived.

Tonks had thought they were both going to die. It had seemed a reasonable assumption. But sometimes life just wasn't that reasonable.

Who was to say life was being reasonable now?

The room was empty. She couldn't see a body, so Remus wasn't dead. Not to her, not yet at least.

And so Tonks wiped the tears from her eyes, pushed the hair back from her face, took a deep breath to steady her nerves, before turning on her heel and marching back out of the door.

Teddy took another cautious step forward and flattened himself up against a tree trunk. His heart was still pounding in his ears and he was sure that his breathing was so loud that whoever he was following was going to hear every single breath.

For a long moment, the young Gryffindor considered the possibility that he was making a grave mistake. By now he was quite some way away from his hiding place and he was starting to doubt his ability to find his way back.

Yes, Teddy Lupin was completely lost.

Idiot, he silently cursed himself as he looked around at all of the identical looking trees. You should have stayed put, like Mum told you to.

And, what really was the point of this little expedition? How would he alert the Aurors, anyway? He'd thought he'd heard a noise a long few minutes ago that might have been the sound of them apparating, but he didn't even have a wand...

It probably wasn't even the Aurors, he thought dismally. It was probably just Mum and one of those nutcases smashing holes in the building with their stunning spells.

At the sound of something heavy dropping to the ground, Teddy turned his attention back to his foolish task and peered around the tree.

The man had finally come to a halt, dropping the end of the cloth cargo to the ground.

The cloth gave a spluttered groan.

Teddy gasped, reaching to clamp and hand over his mouth.

_Dad?_

He squinted, trying to get a clearer look at the scene, so consumed by panic that he failed to notice the soft rustling sound behind him.

He didn't want to believe it, he could not stand the thought, no matter how sure in his mind he was that the spluttering bundle was indeed his father, Teddy needed to be just a little more certain...

Willing himself to be brave, he took a small step out from behind the tree, holding his breath again. He edged closer, closer...

_Snap! _

Teddy froze, eyes darting down to the twig that had just broken under his foot, before looking back up again with a gasp.

The man spun around to face him, eyes lighting up in triumph at the sight of the small, petrified boy who simply stood, staring at him in panic.

And it seemed to Teddy that the world suddenly moved in slow motion, he watched the man raise his wand, pointing it directly at Teddy's chest, and at the sight of a flash of red light shooting towards him, Teddy screwed his eyes shut in terror.

And at that moment the boy felt something clamp down upon his shoulder, in an instant he felt a sickening sensation as if he were being jerked violently backwards, and quite suddenly everything felt blank.


	11. When Tonks Whistled

_Note: Another shorter chapter...sorry! But I promise the next one will be longer! I estimate two more chapters before this fic is finished! I hope you are enjoying it!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**11: When Tonks Whistled**

"Teddy?"

As the vague voice punctured the blankness, Teddy became aware of his face being pressed into something soft and warm.

"Teddy! Come on, wake up..."

Somebody was holding him upright, arms wrapped tightly around his middle...

The boy opened his eyes with a gasp and immediately attempted to pull himself backwards, free from the hold, only to find himself looking up at a familiar face.

With a somewhat strangled moan of relief, Teddy slumped forwards, burying his face once again into the front of his godfather's robes.

"You're okay, Ted." Harry murmured, grip upon the boy loosening a little as he patted him comfortingly on the back. "I've got you."

Teddy forced away a sob, swallowing the lump that was in his throat, and whispered:

"And Dad?"

Harry was silent for a long moment, and Teddy felt despair seize him as he took a step back, swiping at the tears upon his face with his sleeve.

"What about my dad?" Teddy repeated, expression suddenly accusing. "You got him too, right?"

Harry glanced at their surroundings, some other part of the woods, Teddy would guess, before leaning back against a tree trunk, expression apologetic.

"Well we're working on it, Ted, I only apparated here a little while ago, I spotted you through the trees and came after you, apparated us away just in time. I've not even had time to look for your dad...the others haven't sent word that they've found him yet either..."

"HE WAS RIGHT THERE!" Teddy shrieked, hands grasping clumps of hair in agitation. "HE WAS RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU!"

Harry's mouth slowly formed a silent _oh_...

"HE WAS RIGHT THERE AND...AND YOU JUST...JUST LEFT HIM THERE!" Teddy shouted, eyes positively bulging at his godfather's rather feeble reaction.

Harry straightened up, glancing around them again to check they were still alone.

"Okay, Ted." he said hurriedly, voice hushed. "I really need you to keep your voice down..."

"DID YOU EVEN HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?" Teddy cried, voice growing hoarse from his shouting, "DON'T JUST BLOODY STAND THERE! MY DAD'S DYING! DO SOMETHING!"

Harry stared at him for a long, thoughtful moment, before reaching to grasp hold of his arm.

"I'm going to take you somewhere safe first." he decided, and at the sight of Teddy shaking his head vigorously, eyes wide in horror, the Auror held up a hand to silence him.

"Look, Ted, if your dad found out I'd left you somewhere dangerous rather than have taken you somewhere safe, just so I could go looking for him, he'd probably never forgive me. He and your mum didn't ask me to be your godfather for nothing, you know..."

"My own MUM left me in the woods on my own!" Teddy protested furiously, pulling his arm free and offering Harry a furious look.

"Yeah, and look where you wound up! Besides, your mum was probably in a rush..."

"So are you! Dad's DYING, Harry! You know what that means, right?"

"There's a whole bunch of Aurors out there looking, Teddy. Me disappearing off with you for a few minutes isn't going to make a lot of difference..."

"But you're the only one who knows where he is!"

"Lysander Rowle isn't the sort to hang around, they'll be on the move again by now. They'll be much further away, too, if you don't just stop arguing and let me get on with it."

There was a long pause as they stared rather challengingly at one another, before Harry held out his hand expectantly. At last Teddy reached forward, pausing to look up at his godfather with pleading eyes.

"Harry," he whispered, tears slowly seeping from his eyes once again. "I...I don't want my dad to die..."

Harry's hand silently closed around Teddy's own and without a word they disappeared with a loud crack.

Tonks stood staring up at the tree, sheer despair washing over her like a splash of icy water.

It's official, she told herself as she eyed the empty branches with wide, fearful eyes. You've screwed this up. And now they're both gone...

"Teddy?" she called, taking a few dazed steps forward, heart hammering in her chest.

So she'd lost her husband, and now her son had disappeared too. No, it couldn't be happening, it simply couldn't...

She'd barely managed to fight away the images of Remus lying sprawled upon the stone floor back in the building, breath catching in his throat as he gasped for breath, coughing up the sickening black sludge flecked with blood. She'd barely managed to dismiss her panic, to delude herself into assuming he would be okay, only for the fear to strike her again, Teddy's pleading that she not leave him on his own searing her. I left him, she thought, I left my little boy all on his own, and Merlin, what will become of him? What had they done to him?

I wish Remus was here, she thought miserably, slumping against the tree in despair. He'd know exactly what to say, what to do, he'd keep his head, stay calm...

Well then, a sobering voice from somewhere inside of her head said calmly. If that's the case, what do you think he would do?

"I thought he was going to have a heart attack or something when Kingsley told him!" Tonks recalled Charlie Weasley announcing as she had sat with him in the living room of the Burrow, some weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts had finally been won. "Kingsley said: You do know Tonks has showed up, don't you? And then Remus just stood there, like somebody had just struck him round the face with a beater's bat! I think you scared him half to death, you know."

"I doubt it." Tonks had murmured, glancing through the kitchen door to see Remus in the kitchen, silently clearing up after lunch as Molly sat motionlessly at the table. "I think he knew, deep down. He knew I was lying when I promised to stay away."

"Well yeah," Charlie had said, looking over at the doorway too. "I think you're right. He was only panicked for a moment, then he...well he sort of just nodded, turned to me and started reeling off instructions as if not a word had been said."

Carry on regardless. It was a good strategy, she could manage that, couldn't she? Just carry on going, keep on searching, the only difference now was there were two people to find...

Quite suddenly Tonks was pulled from her thoughts at a rustling sound, and just as she spun round, wand raised as her eyes darted around her surroundings, she heard a relieved voice shout:

"Thank Merlin, there you are!"

At the sight of a familiar looking figure dashing through the trees towards her, Tonks drew in a deep breath, stifling her panic.

"Kingsley!" she shrieked as the man in question came to a halt before her. "You scared the bloody life out of me!"

The Minister of Magic raised an eyebrow.

"Would you rather I left you alone instead?" he asked dryly, and to his surprise the Head of Aurors launched herself forward and threw her arms tightly around him.

"You have no idea how pleased I am to see you!" she practically squeaked as he glanced around cautiously before returning the hug somewhat gingerly. "You've got to help me, Kingsley, they've taken Teddy! I left him right here, I told him to stay here...what was I thinking? I'm such an idiot, and Remus...oh Merlin, Kingsley! The state of him..."

"You know, Tonks," Kingsley said, prizing her away from him with a firm look until she suddenly seemed to realize just how hysterical she was beginning to sound. "Half the Order's shown up, not to mention the Aurors."

"Really?"

"Last I counted there were four...no, five Weasleys, the Potters, myself and Hestia, six or so from the Auror Department, and in fact I think a couple from Magical Law Enforcement tagged along somehow..."

"You're kidding me."

"I'm not. You whistled and we all came running." The Minister offered Tonks a broad, distinctly proud smile. "So, what do you know?"

The joy at the thought of so many people answering her call for help dulled slightly as Tonks drew a breath to admit that she knew nothing of any use, only for a loud crack to make both witch and wizard spin round, wands raised once again.

"We don't have much time," Harry Potter announced, striding towards them, not at all startled at the wands being directed at his face. As the other two finally lowered their wands, he came to a halt before them, offering Tonks a brief, relieved glance. "So you should probably rally the others, Kingsley." His hand reached to pat Tonks comfortingly upon the arm as he announced: "Teddy's safe back at the Burrow..."

"Thank Merlin!"

"...and I've _seen_ Remus."

As Kingsley sent his patronus shooting off through the trees and within mere moments Aurors and Order members began to apparate all around them, Tonks felt the fear inside her dissolving, replaced by solid determination. Once everybody appeared to be present, they gathered in a small crowd to face the Minister of Magic.

"Teddy Lupin is safe." Kingsley announced, ignoring the mumbles of relief from several in the crowd. "His father, however, is not. In fact as I speak Remus' life hangs in the balance. So, it is about time we stopped _looking_ for him, and start _getting him back_."

And so began the fight to save Remus Lupin's life.


	12. Don't Move

_Note: For Kuroida, because the words summer and school should be found on opposite sides of a magnet. And also because she updated her fic when I wasn't expecting it, which was a nice surprise when I got home this evening! =)_

_Thank you to my faithful reviewers for your time and kind words!_

_Oh and when I said this one was longer...well...I might have lied a bit...sorry! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**12: Don't Move**

If one were to make a list of the attributes that could be applied to Lysander Rowle, subtly would certainly not be at the top of said list. In fact it would be a near certainty that such a trait would be absent from the list entirely.

As she and the rest of the rescue party stood in the clearing, staring at the clear track that lead deeper into the woods, Tonks couldn't help but feel more than a little glad of this fact.

She felt rather less glad when she heard somebody behind her mumble to another:

"Merlin, to drag him along all this way! He's a dead man, surely..."

Either side of her, both Kingsley and Harry flinched in anticipation, and Tonks spun round to glare accusingly at whoever had spoken.

It was a moron from Magical Law Enforcement, the Head of Aurors discovered, a rather feeble looking man in his twenties who she knew to be named Lucas Jackson.

"You applied for the Auror program, didn't you Jackson?" she asked, and the wizard gave a little jump at the sound of her voice.

"I...yes, I did." was the slightly abashed response.

"Yeah, I remember." Tonks recalled, despite Kingsley choosing that moment to clear his throat rather loudly. "It's people with attitudes like yours, Jackson, that get turned down and end up as pen pushers down in the Law Enforcement offices. Listen, I'm dead grateful that you decided to tag along on this little outing, but really! We didn't win a war with an outlook like that, and I'm pretty damn sure it's not going to help us now, either. It's over when it's over, and not a moment before."

And with that she turned and began to stalk off through the trees, the others exchanged brief glances before striding off after her.

They followed the track for some half a mile until it came to an abrupt end and, unsure of where exactly to go next, they split into pairs and set off in varying directions. Despite how irritating she found him, Tonks paired herself with Jackson, she felt a little guilty for singling him out earlier, for his had not been the first despairing remark to be uttered. Besides, she thought as they walked side by side away from the others, he ought not have come. She was sure that Lysander Rowle would eat him for breakfast, and for some reason Tonks felt a sense of responsibility for him.

"You know," she told him after a few minutes of awkward silence. "I really do appreciate you coming out here to help. I know I was being blunt earlier, but really, it does mean a lot to me."

Lucas Jackson offered her a small smile, reaching to brush a strand of blonde hair from his eyes.

"What made you want to come?" she wondered, squinting through the trees ahead.

"Professor Lupin taught me Defense at Hogwarts when I was a first year." he explained, glancing behind them to find that the rest of the party were nowhere to be seen. "Of course he left at the end of the year, but I always thought he was the best teacher I'd had." he quickened his pace a little as he vowed: "My daughter's only five years old, she won't be at Hogwarts for another six years. Now he's back at the school I can't possibly have him die! I was glad to think he'd teach Leah in a few years time."

"Merlin," Tonks murmured as they approached another clearing. "That'll make him feel old..." she trailed off into silence when something upon the ground some feet away caught her eye. The Auror came to a halt and eyed the object with a sudden sense of dread.

"Look!" Jackson exclaimed, hurrying forward to snatch up the bundle of scarlet material. "They're Auror robes." he announced, turning to hold them up so that she could see.

"Yeah..." Tonks felt her stomach clench as he gave them a shake, unfolding the material like some sort of grotesque flag. "Those would belong to me."

Jackson's face contorted at the sight of countless patches of thick, black bile and dark splatters of blood. When he opened his mouth to comment, Tonks turned away from him, raising her wand.

"And that would belong to Remus." she told him, and as a huge silvery figure burst from her wand and soared off, carrying news of their findings through the trees, he swallowed any comments that he had thought to make.

They continued to walk for some ten minutes in silence, and as time ebbed away Tonks began to feel desperation seizing her again, She tried best to keep calm, to keep her mind free from panic. This is just another day at work, she told herself firmly, just do your job...

She had just been repeating this instruction silently to herself for the fifth time when Jackson suddenly stopped, raising an arm to point through the trees to their left.

"Look!"

Tonks halted and turned to look to where her companion was pointing, and her eyes came to rest upon a small, shed-like structure that was nestled between the trees. It was in poor shape, indeed the nearest wall was entirely missing, exposing the inside to the elements.

And there, lying sprawled upon the bare, rotting floorboards, was Remus.

Tonks' heart gave a leap at the sight of him and it took every ounce of her self control not to abandon all caution and run to his side, to gather him up in her arms and beg him to be alive...

_Don't move_, a firm voice demanded, and for the briefest moment Tonks wanted to glance behind her to see who was talking, but she knew there was nobody there.

When confronted with a similar scene some years ago, crouched in some bushes, staring at an unconscious Hestia Jones, Tonks had scowled and muttered:

"Shit!"

And he had been right behind her, lips mere inches from her ear as he had hissed:

"Don't move!"

She had scowled and retorted:

"Don't move? For the love of Merlin, Remus, I'm not an idiot! I don't wear this uniform for fun, you know!"

He'd gone rather quiet after that and she'd felt bad for snapping at him.

As she stood in the forest, staring at his limp figure lying motionlessly amongst the damp and mould, Tonks felt positively grateful for his warning, too.

_Don't move_. She could hear him clear as day, and she needed to listen, she needed him. Because he was the only one who could keep her sane, stop her charging through the trees towards him, stop her shrieking his name at the top of her lungs...

_Don't move, Dora..._

Tonks drew in a deep, steadying breath.

_Don't move._..

It was just then that she heard sudden movement, and she glanced sideways just in time to see Jackson break into a sprint, heading straight for the ramshackle building.

"Jackson!" she bellowed, hesitating only briefly before dashing after him. "Stop!"

As Jackson neared the building, pace faltering at the sound of her shouting, a flash of green light lit up the little clearing. The brightness stung her eyes and Tonks stumbled to a halt, wand raised...

But Jackson had already crumpled to the forest floor with a heavy thud.


	13. I Don't Believe You

_Note: Sorry for leaving you all on a cliffhanger – I got distracted writing **A Good Impression**. But since I am currently being held hostage in my bedroom by a Chihuahua, I figured I might as well use my time in captivity writing a new chapter!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**13: I Don't Believe You**

So fast and furious was the duel that broke out in the forest clearing that Tonks barely had time to consider what had just happened to Lucas Jackson. Indeed, as she desperately shielded herself from yet another killing curse that disintergrated mere milimeters from her face, it was an effort to consider anything at all besides the simple and yet complex task of staying alive for a few more seconds. She began to back off towards the trees behind her, hurriedly forming some sort of plan in her head, and when she finally succeeded in striking Lysander Rowle in the shoulder with a well aimed stinging jinx, causing him to stumble and pause in his attack, Tonks made a dive for the nearest tree. Once in cover she sent her patronus streaking away through the forest, feeling a sense of triumph as the huge silvery figure erupted from her wand. She flattened herself up against the tree trunk, wincing as yet another curse shot past her, striking an oak tree with an ugly crunch and sending splinters of wood ricocheting off in all directions.

Once the patronus was out of sight, Tonks aimed blindly over her shoulder and fired a couple of spells back at the former Death Eater. Then, she slowly counted to three.

_One..._

_Two..._

_Three..._

A series of loud cracks sounded around the clearing and for the first time in hours, Tonks smiled with relief. As Aurors and Order members descended upon the clearing, Tonks instantly abandoned her cover and, ignoring the mass of spells and curses that had suddenly begun to light up the clearing like a Christmas tree, sprinted towards the ramshackle building.

_Am I out of my bloody mind?_ She thought to herself frantically as she ran, teeth clenched together in panic._ I'm going to die..._

She was nearing the building, heart hammering relentlessly in her chest as she ran and each time she slammed a foot down upon the ground she felt the panic begin to dull.

_I'm going to make it, I'm going to make it, I've nearly got him, I'm going to make it..._

Somebody was shouting her name...Ginny? Hermione? She wasn't sure, in fact she didn't care, there wasn't time to look round to find out...

She had a mere five meters to go when she discovered just why whoever it was had been was calling to her. It started with a sudden force ramming into her back, and she found herself thrown off her feet and through the air as a unbearable, searing pain erupted up her spine. Tonks screwed her eyes shut, fighting back a shout of pain and braced herself for impact. She hit the ground with a definite snapping noise, the sudden pain in her wrist identifying the source of the noise. Despite the injury, the Auror dragged herself the last few feet and heaved herself up into a sitting position.

"Remus?" Ignoring the aching protests of her wrist, Tonks immediately reached for the unconscious figure, pulling him towards her, one arm around his middle as she cradled his head to her chest. "I've got you," she whispered, face buried in his hair. "It's okay now love, I've got you..."

And with that, the two of them disapparated with a loud crack, leaving the chaotic battle behind them.

Teddy sat motionlessly in the armchair, his gaze fixated upon the moth eaten carpet. He glanced up at the sound of the door of the sitting room opening to see Molly Weasley peering at him through the doorway. When she saw he was looking she fixed a painfully fake smile upon her face and took a few steps into the room.

"I was going to make a cup of tea." Molly informed the child, who simply stared at her, expression vacant. "Would you like a cup, Teddy dear?"

"No thank you." came the feeble response.

"Or a slice of chocolate cake? I baked it ready for when Bill and Fluer come for tea tomorrow, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you had a slice..."

"No thank you."

Molly nodded slowly and heaved a deep sigh. Teddy returned to staring at the carpet. There was a dark coloured stain just to the left of his feet. He wondered vaguely what on earth could have been spilled that Molly could not banish with a good scourgify or magical stain remover.

Molly walked somewhat cautiously over and sat down upon the foot stall in front of him.

"Listen, dear," she said, reaching to lay a comforting hand upon his arm. "I know you must feel absolutely dreadful right now..." she trailed off, sighing again. Before she could say anything else, the boy looked up at her, brown eyes solemn.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked, voice a mere whisper, and when she looked confused he elaborated, voice a despairing monotone. "Losing family, I mean...will it hurt forever?"

He watched her face fall and she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. After a sizable pause she slowly shook her head.

"Your mum and dad are going to be fine..."

"But if they aren't? It's going to hurt forever, isn't it? Like...like with Fred and the others..."

"Don't even think about it, dear..." she said hurriedly, gaze flickering downwards as she rapidly blinked away tears.

"I mean...even if there's still you and...and Harry and everybody...it'll be like...like I'm on my own. I'm going to be on my own."

"Of course you won't, Teddy. Your parents will be back before you know it, everything will be just the same as it always is!"

Teddy looked grimly thoughtful, brow creasing as he weighed up his family's plight. At last he looked back at her again and then, his gaze painfully sorrowful, he told her:

"I don't believe you."

Molly opened her mouth to attempt to reason with him, only for a loud, frantic knocking to sound from the back door.

"I think you better stay here a moment, Teddy dear." the Weasley matriarch told the boy, and with that she got to her feet and hurried back into the kitchen, closing the sitting room door firmly closed behind her.

Teddy immediately jumped up and ran to the door, pressing his ear against it.

The knocking was getting louder, more desperate, even when Molly called to say that she was coming. Teddy heard the door being pulled open...

"Where's Teddy?"

"My goodness! Look at you both! Is he conscious?"

"No. Where's Teddy, Molly?"

"He...he's in the sitting room, dear. I'll just call him for you..."

"No! Don't! Leave him, just...help me get to the floo, we need to get to the hospital."

"Are you sure? He..."

"He's not seeing us like this! Just...careful!"

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? What on earth happened? Your back..."

"Doesn't matter! Look, just keep Teddy here please Molly, until...until we know...if...you know..."

"Yes...that's probably best..."

Teddy instantly grasped hold of the door handle and wrenched the door open, drawing in a deep, frightened breath.

Molly and his mother were both stood just before the fireplace, each had hold of one of his father's arms around their necks as they attempted to drag him into the floo. His mother was desperately clinging on with one hand, the other was limp at her side, hanging at an odd angle, and the back of her t shirt had a large hole in it, just between her shoulder blades. The exposed skin beneath appeared to have been scalded, charred even, and at the sight of it, Teddy reached to clamp a hand over his mouth, for fear that he might be sick. He averted his gaze and looked instead at his father, whose face was as pale as a porcelain doll, head lolling forward and limbs limp as the two witches struggled to keep hold of him. A thin trail of sticky, black sludge mapped their short struggle across the kitchen from the back door and Teddy watched Molly pull a handkerchief from the pocket of her apron, reaching to wipe the remnants of the bloody mixture from the wizard's face.

Teddy drew in another deep breath and fixed his mother with a somewhat accusing look.

"Until you know what, Mum?" he asked, voice a pitch or two higher than usual as he felt tears gathering in his eyes. "Until you know whether or not Dad's gonna die?"

"Dad's not going to die, love." Tonks told him as Molly drew the handkerchief away and looked down at it worriedly. "He's going to be fine."

"You said he could die! You said...you said if he didn't get to hospital quickly...and...and you've been ages!"

"Then let me take him to Mungo's, Teddy. Let me take him to Mungo's, so he can start getting better. I need you to stay here with Molly for me, okay? Just until...I've spoken to the healers and they've gotten Dad in a bed and stuff..."

Teddy shook his head vigorously.

"You think he's going to die!" he choked, hurrying forward towards them.

Tonks stepped into the fireplace, pulling Remus free from Molly's grasp, staggering a little under the sudden weight.

"Let me come with you!" Teddy shrieked desperately as Molly carefully poured a good measure of floo powder into Tonks' hand, careful not to knock her wrist.

"Don't worry, I'll come back and get you soon, love." Tonks assured her son calmly, only for the child to push past Molly until he too was in the fireplace.

"I'm coming with you!" he declared fiercely, reaching to grasp hold of his father by the hand. "I...I want to...to be there if he..."

"He's not going to die, Teddy!" Tonks insisted, shooting Molly a pleading look. "Now you're wasting time, step out of the fireplace! Wait here with Molly, like I told you to."

"No!"

"I mean it, Teddy! Out of the fireplace, now!"

"No! I won't do it!"

"Theodore Remus Lupin!" At his mother's suddenly raised voice, Teddy hunched his shoulders and looked down at his feet. "Thank Merlin your dad is unconscious right now! Because if he could hear you...if he could hear this...this...it's ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! You're wasting what little time we have left! Now I'm telling you to step out of the fireplace, so you do what you're told, else Merlin knows what the healers will have to say when they find out I've apparated into London and DRAGGED your dad through a few streets full of muggles in order to get him to them!"

There was a long, stunned pause, before Teddy finally let go of Remus' hand and shuffled back out of the fireplace.

"Good boy." Tonks whispered, suddenly calm again. "I'll be back for you soon, I promise." she told the silently sobbing child, before adding: "We love you, Teddy."

And with that, Teddy watched his parents disappear in a burst of emerald flame.


	14. St Mungo's Hospital for Celebrations

_Note: And here we are, the final chapter! It is a slightly daft ending...but I don't care. =) It's very likely that there will be a fourth story in the Blood 'ficverse, so look out for that! A number of people wanted to know if I will add to A Good Impression. My answer is yes, I probably will, but only when I come up with something funny to write! As is evident from the fact that I have only ever posted a single humour fic, such an endeavour may take me a long time! I also plan to finish Meet the Lupins. A few people also asked for a sequel to Fake. I have no idea what such a story would involve right now, so at the moment I do not plan on writing one. _

_Thank you to everybody who has been kind enough to review this story, I hope that you enjoy the ending as much as the rest of it! I appreciate you taking the time to writing reviews for me._

_I listened to A Window to the Past on repeat whilst writing this, so...if anybody wants a soundtrack for the chapter...there you have it! =) _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing. _

**14: St Mungo's Hospital for Parties and Celebrations**

Time dragged on, hour after hour, and come early evening Teddy found that no matter how anxious he felt, the past few days' drama were finally catching up with him, it soon became an effort to keep his eyes open. Despite his fatigue the young Gryffindor did not sleep for long, and come the third time that he awoke with a start from a nightmare, Teddy found himself desperate to stay awake. The child got groggily to his feet and headed towards the small writing desk that sat in the corner of the Weasley's sitting room, desperate for something to preoccupy his mind and keep him from dreaming.

It was another two hours until the child was discovered by his mud-stained, rather bedraggled looking godfather, and when Harry crept into the sitting room, he found that Teddy had lost his battle to stay awake, once again he had fallen asleep, this time slumped over the desk, one hand dangerously close to upsetting an open ink bottle.

The Auror tip-toed across the room and carefully rescued the ink bottle, as he lifted it from the desk a piece of parchment caught his eye.

_Dear Dad.._.

Harry reached to carefully pull the parchment out from beneath Teddy's arm, only to hastily let go again when the child stirred and opened his eyes.

"Hi Ted," Harry greeted softly as the boy stared blearily up at him, attempting to blink the sleep from his eyes. "How're you doing?"

Teddy sat up and looked down at the letter, reaching to smooth a dog-eared corner.

"I've spoken to your mum." Harry told him after a short silence. "She's still at the hospital, but she said I could come and fetch you. We could go and give this to your dad, if you like." He gestured to the letter, and Teddy hastily picked it up, as if he were worried that Harry would see what he had written. When the boy said nothing, Harry asked:

"Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Yeah," Teddy mumble at last, and he got to his feet, still holding onto the letter as if it were made of china.

"Let's go then." Harry said, reaching to put a hand upon his godson's shoulder. As they headed for the door he asked: "D'you want me to put that somewhere safe?"

"No. I've got it."

"Okay then..."

They had paused only briefly in the kitchen to assure Molly, who was busy slicing vegetables for dinner, that Harry would let her know if there was any news, before stepping outside into the gathering darkness and then Harry had apparated them into a London backstreet.

Teddy barely noticed which roads they walked down to reach St. Mungo's Hospital, he simply concentrated on ensuring that his letter did not get too creased in the evening's breeze. Once they had entered the hospital and Harry had gone to the welcome desk to find out exactly where they needed to go, Teddy simply stood gazing at the piece of parchment, he felt no desire to take a look around the large reception room and wonder why on earth that man's head was twice it's normal size, or what had happened to make that baby's skin turn such an ugly shade of green.

"C'mon Teddy, it's this way." Teddy felt Harry's hand once again upon his shoulder and he allowed himself to be guided across the room and towards a set of double doors. As they made their way along a corridor and up a staircase, Teddy recalled the last time that he had visited the hospital. It had been under a year ago when his mother had fallen foul of a nasty curse or two. He had left Hogwarts with his father and they had gone to visit her together. Teddy had recalled being worried that Tonks would be in too dire a state for him to recognize her. He had held his father's hand as they had walked down the corridor and entered the ward. There had been so much comfort in that contact, Teddy remembered, and quite suddenly, despite Harry's hand upon his shoulder, the boy felt painfully alone.

At last they reached the third floor and at the end of the corridor they found a trio of healers clustered around a doorway. As Harry and Teddy approached, it became apparent that they were arguing.

"Look," one healer, a short man with unruly curly hair was saying as the two visitors came to a halt. "If she doesn't want to leave him to get herself looked at...well...that's up to her..."

"If she doesn't go she'll end up terribly scarred!" an elderly healer wearing a pair of huge spectacles exclaimed, and when the third healer, a young witch who looked young enough to still be in school, voiced her opinion, she was glared at furiously.

"I dunno...couldn't she just morph the scars away?"

"That's not the point!" the older witch exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration, only for the man to clear his throat meaningfully and all three of them hurriedly turned to face the newcomers, each smiling brightly.

"Can we help you?" asked the man, and Harry gave Teddy a little push forwards.

"We're here to see Mr. Lupin." the Auror explained, and Teddy couldn't help but notice the rather pained expression that the two witches exchanged.

"Are you family?"

"Yes, Teddy here is his son. I'm a friend of the family."

"Well that's a relief," the older woman said as they stepped aside to let the visitors pass. "Perhaps you might talk some sense into his wife, she won't leave his bedside and she isn't the picture of health herself..."

"She's alright." the other witch insisted, offering Teddy a reassuring smile. Teddy did not smile back.

It was a small, clinical room with plain, white walls and white tiled flooring.

Rather like his father's skin.

Remus was lying motionlessly in the bed, blankets tucked firmly around him and a mound of pillows propping up his head. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow and wheezing.

The only chair beside the bed was vacant, instead Tonks was perched somewhat precariously upon edge of the bed beside the werewolf, forehead resting against the side of his head, as if she too were sleeping. One hand upon the bed to stop herself sliding off onto the floor, the Head of Aurors' other hand was resting upon her husband's chest, rising and falling along with his rapid breathing.

"You're wasting your time," she mumbled as Teddy heard Harry step through the doorway after him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"So they're saying." Harry said as Teddy hurried over to the bed and grabbed hold of his father's hand in both of his own. "You're causing quite a stir, you know."

Tonks let out a small sigh, shifting a little until she could look across the bed at her son.

"I don't see why," she told Harry stubbornly. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Harry opened his mouth to argue with her, but seemingly thought better of it. Instead, he went and sat in the chair and eyed Remus worriedly.

"How's he doing?" he asked her as she reached across the bed to put her hand atop of Teddy's with a small smile and murmured greeting to the boy.

"Is he getting better?" Teddy asked, scrutinizing his father's face. He wasn't entirely sure that Remus looked much better, perhaps a little less bruised after his ordeal back in the woods, but just as lifeless. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Tonks and Harry exchange a glance, it made his stomach clench and he gripped hold of Remus' hand a little tighter.

"It's...a bit early to tell, love." Tonks told him rather uncertainly.

"But it's been hours!"

"Yes," said a voice from the doorway, and Teddy looked round to see the older woman who had been arguing with the other two healers out in the corridor. "But your father is very sick." The healer took a small step into the room, gaze upon Tonks. "Mrs. Lupin?" she said, and Tonks turned to look at her with a somewhat suspicious look. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Is it about him or me?" Tonks asked, eyes piercing, and Teddy almost found it amusing until the healer confirmed:

"It's about him."

Teddy felt her give his hand a squeeze and as she slowly eased herself up onto her feet, hunching her shoulders as she did so, Tonks told him:

"Keep on eye on Dad, won't you love?" When Teddy nodded she offered him a surprisingly bright smile and said: "That's my boy." Then she headed for the door, back hunched and pace rather slow.

"You want a moment, Ted?" Harry asked, and he too got to his feet. "I was going to go and get us all a cup of tea."

Teddy gave a small nod, and before he knew it he was alone in the room, all was quiet save for Remus' wheezing breathing. After a long minute of silence Teddy couldn't quite stand the sound, and so he retrieved his letter from his lap and leant a little closer to his father, drawing in a deep breath.

"Dad?" he whispered, glancing out into the corridor to see that his mother and the healer were stood right down the other end of the corridor, huddled together as they spoke in hushed voices. "Dad...it's me. It's Teddy...listen...Dad...I've written something. I've written this thing for you...I hope you can hear me, because I'm going to read it to you. I know it's...well it's probably not the right time for you to hear it, but I have to read it now, just in case...in case you don't wake up. Because then I'll know you heard it. I mean...we never talked about where you go...if you don't wake up...so...so just in case it's a real long way away, somewhere where you won't be able to hear me...I'm going to read it now. Okay? Okay..." he reached to wipe a tear from his eye and raised the letter up so that he could see it clearly. "_Dear Dad. I have had a terrible dream. I dreamt that you were dead, and Mum wouldn't stop crying, and...and we had to have a funeral. But the thing is, Dad, it was sort of nice...because lots of people came to say goodbye to you and they all said loads of nice things about you and what a good person you were. And I think...if you don't wake up...that is going to be what it will be like. Everybody is going to be really sad and miss you lots, and they are going to say really nice things about you. I want you to remember that, Dad. Loads of people love you. _

_I want you to know, too, that I'm not mad at you for not telling me about the Death Eaters. I know you just wanted me to have a nice Christmas, and I'm sorry I kept telling you it wasn't very good. The truth is, Dad, it was the best Christmas ever because I got to do loads of cool stuff with you. You told me loads of great stories, I love your stories about you and Mum and the Order. I liked it when we played chess, too. I'm glad you taught me to play before Mum tried to because you are a much better teacher than she is. Speaking of teachers, Hogwarts won't be the same if you aren't there. I don't think I'll go back if you don't go with me. I'll tell Mum I want to go to Durmstrang or somewhere else. Chester thinks you are the best teacher ever, even if you keep taking points off of him because of his homework. I know I shouldn't have let him copy off of me all the time, and I'm sorry about that. _

_Thank you for always looking after me, Dad. I wish I had done the same for you. I was thinking the other day about what Harry said at Christmas, when he said I was just like you. The thing is, Dad, I'm not sure that he is right. I don't think I'm as brave as you, or as clever. I hope it is only because I'm young, I hope I am more like you when I am older. I will have to be as brave as you if I am going to be an Auror like Mum. I know you don't like her job very much because it is dangerous, but would you be proud of me anyway if I still decided to do it? I think you would, because Mum says the tests for Auror training are really, really hard and you have to be dead clever to pass them. Plus you always told me I should stand up for what I believe in, and that's what Aurors do all the time, they stand up to the bad guys. If I don't end up being an Auror I want to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts like you. I'll tell all the students about the Order of the Phoenix and the stories you have told me, except that one about you and Mum and the boggart. That one is for family members only. I'll tell it to my son or my daughter if I ever have one. If I do I hope I am as good a dad as you._

_I really hope you wake up soon, Dad, because I need you to look after Mum and I. But if you don't, I promise I will look after Mum for you. I'll make her cheese on toast for breakfast at the weekend like you do and I'll run her bath when she gets home from work. _

_Do you remember how I used to joke to James and Harry that you were too old for stuff? Like when I always asked Harry to play Quidditch because you were too old? Well I want you to know that I'd rather have you as my dad than anybody else in the whole world. I don't care if we don't play Quidditch or if you don't play chase with me and the others in the woods anymore. You're still the coolest dad ever. You teach me cool spells to use at Duelling Club, you made the Marauders' Map which is the coolest thing ever created, and you used to beat up Death Eaters and hang out with an escaped convict in your spare time. If that isn't cool, I don't know what is. _

_There are so many other things that I could tell you, Dad, but I'm running our of room on this parchment and I can't find another sheet. So I'll just say a few things:_

_Thank you for being the most wonderful father anyone could ever have, thank you for keeping me safe and unafraid, thank you for coming back to us and keeping us together as a family, thank you for believing in yourself and teaching me to do the same, and thank you for loving Mum and me so much. We love you too, more than anything. _

_I hope you are proud of me._

_With all my love, _

_Your son, Teddy._

There, Dad. I hope you're listening..." Teddy glanced over his shoulder out into the corridor again. Tonks and the healer seemed to be finishing their conversation, the healer turned to head for the stairs and Tonks stared after her for a long moment, before turning towards the wall, shoulders slumping as her head came to rest against the cool plaster. Even from a distance Teddy was sure that he could see her trembling with tears and where her hair had been mousy brown it was now a feeble grey. She stayed there, head bowed for a long moment until footsteps sounded on the staircase and she suddenly straightened up, hair darkening to brown with a shake of her head. When Harry appeared at the bottom of the staircase, carrying their cups of tea, she thanked him and accepted a cup with a smile. When they both turned to make their way back up the corridor towards him, Teddy hastily turned back to Remus, pretending he hadn't been watching. Once they were all back in the room, plastic cups of tea in their hands, Tonks came to perch at Teddy's side, lips pursed together thoughtfully as she regarded his silent vigil.

"So..." she said after several minutes of silence. "The healer and I have had a little chat about Dad."

"What did she say?" Teddy asked, not daring to look round at her. He was not entirely sure that he would like what he would see, nor what he was going to hear, but he knew he had no choice but to ask.

"She said he's getting better."

Teddy immediately turned to face her. He had not been expecting her to say that, though he was not sure how truthful she was being, her expression was far from glad.

"That's great...isn't it?"

"Yeah," At last a small smile touched his mother's lips and she reached to rest her hand upon his father's arm. "It's really great..." she sighed heavily and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "The thing is, Teddy...the thing is...just because Dad's getting better, doesn't mean he's going to...well..." she trailed off and sighed again. Teddy stared at her with wide eyes, and she reached to put her arm around him. "That poison, Teddy, that Dad keeps coughing up, is very nasty stuff...and the healer says that it'll take a few days to clear it from his lungs and make him better. But the thing is, love...even if the poison get's cleared away...well it's already done quite a lot of damage. Dad's lungs...well they're not looking so healthy right now. They're all...weak and...thin. And that means there's a chance they might...well...tear..."  
"T...tear?"

"Yeah...they could tear or rip or something...and...well then Dad won't be able to breath properly...he'll suffocate."

There was a long pause as if Tonks was waiting for Teddy to give some sort of reaction, but he could do nothing but stare at her mutely.

"Now the healers can fix Dad's lungs, they're dead clever like that. There's this potion...what they do is they boil it and Dad can inhale the steam...but the thing is, love, they can't do that until all the poison is gone. So...until then...well we just have to hope Dad's lungs don't give up on him, okay?"

Teddy gave a sniff and reached to wipe the tears from his eyes.

"Okay." he whispered.

Teddy had dosed off to sleep again within half an hour, and when he awoke again with a start, having watched a coffin being lowered into the earth amongst a crowd of crying friends and relatives, he was shocked to feel a hand upon his shoulder and a hoarse voice rasped:

"It's alright...Ted...it was...just a dream."

Teddy sat bolt upright and turned to find Remus watching him through heavy, sunken eyes.

"Dad! You're awake!" the boy made to throw his arms around his father, only to think better of it at the last minute, reaching to take hold of his hand instead. Remus' mouth twitched in a poor imitation of a smile.

"I've been...awake for a while." he told his son slowly, pausing to gasp for breath between words. "Your mother w...wanted to wake you. I said...she should let you sleep."

Teddy glanced across the bed, only to find that Tonks was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" he asked, only to wince at the sound of the werewolf's hacking cough. It took some time for Remus to recover enough to attempt a reply.

"She's...gone to see...somebody about her back. She didn't...w...want to go. But I...threatened to...sing opera."

Despite a fresh wave of coughing to leave his father slumped back against his pillows, eyes drifting shut wearily, Teddy couldn't help but grin.

"What about Harry?"

Remus was too busy coughing to answer, but he managed to shake his head.

"He's gone home." Teddy guessed, shuddering to see tar-like black bile seeping from the werewolf's lips.

"I hear...you've been...beating up Death E...ters y...yourself." Remus said at last, and it was just then that Teddy noticed that his letter was lying upon his father's lap. "Y...your mother says...she's never seen a better...f...full body bind."

Teddy felt his cheeks redden, embarrassed at the praise.

"I dunno..." he mumbled, shifting in his seat. "It was scary..."

"It was."

"You were awake?"

The werewolf frowned into the blacks of his eyelids.

"Maybe." he mumbled, as if he wasn't really sure.

Teddy reached to grasp a corner of the sheet and reached to wipe the tar from his father's chin. Remus didn't seem to notice, and Teddy wondered if he had fallen asleep. But quite suddenly he drew in a wheezing breath and murmured:

"You were...very brave. I'm...proud of you."

Teddy smiled and reached to wipe away another tear upon the sleeve of his jumper.

"Thanks Dad," he whispered, and they sat in silence for a long few minutes until Teddy remembered an important question that he wanted to ask. "Dad?" he said, shifting up the bed a little so that he could study Remus' face intently. "I need to ask you something."

"Mm?"

"What happens...when we die? Like...where do we go?" Teddy waited for an answer, biting his lip in anticipation.

Remus said:

"Mm."

Teddy reached to give his shoulder a little shake.

"Dad? Where do we go?"

"Mmm..."

"Dad don't fall asleep! I need you to tell me...Dad?"

Remus made no response, and Teddy sighed heavily.

"Please don't fall asleep," the boy whispered miserably, reaching to hug his father's arm to his chest. "I didn't ask you everything yet, and I need to tell you I love you, just in case..."

"He'll wake up again soon."

Teddy turned to find Tonks stood in the doorway, standing visibly straighter than she had done so earlier that night.

"You can talk to him then, love," she said as she walked to take a seat in the chair that Harry had sat in when Teddy had dosed off to sleep. "Don't expect him to talk back much, though. Healer Gillard says he's not to strain himself."

"We talked quite a lot."

"Yeah? Well I'm going to talk a lot when he wakes up again. All about just what I'm going to do if he doesn't start listening to healer's orders."

Teddy sniggered and reached to retrieve his letter and set it down upon the bedside table.

"He spent a lot of time looking at that." Tonks told him, and for some reason Teddy felt embarrassed again. He was glad that his mother did not comment any further, but was not pleased by what else she had to tell him. "He wants me to send you back to Hogwarts."

Teddy turned to fix her with a horrified stare.

"What?"

"And I think he has a good point..."

"No!" Teddy jumped to his feet, dropping Remus' arm so that it hung from the bed at what Teddy didn't think was an entirely natural angle. "I won't go! You can't make me!"

Tonks got swiftly to her feet and strode around the bed until she was stood beside him.

"Shh!" she hissed, reaching to carefully lift Remus' arm back onto the bed, frowning when the wizard stirred in his sleep. "Listen, Teddy," she said, turning to fix her son with a firm look. "Your Dad and I have already talked about it. In fact it was one of the first things he mentioned when he woke up earlier..."

"I'm not going back to school!" Teddy insisted, folding his arms firmly across his chest, only for Tonks to put her arms around him and hug him tightly.

"You know, when I told him how many hours you'd been sitting there next to him, Dad was very upset. He doesn't want you to sit here and watch him all day long, love. He's worried...about something going wrong."

"What..." Teddy said, trying to turn to look over at Remus again. "He's worried what? That I'm gonna see him suddenly die?"

There was a long pause that Teddy suspected meant _yes, that's exactly what he's worried about,_ before Tonks asked him:

"Don't you think it'll be better if you went back to school? At least for a little? That way Dad doesn't have to worry about you, and the less worry he has right now the better."

Teddy sighed heavily, burying his face in his mother's shoulder. He could not imagine what it would be like to go back to Hogwarts now, to sit in lessons and eat lunch with Chester and his friends, knowing that his father could be alive when one lesson began and dead by the time it had finished...

Remus stirred again, and slowly his eyes drifted open once again. He stared somewhat blankly at his wife and son for a long moment, before smiling weakly.

"Wotcher love," Tonks said over Teddy's shoulder, smiling back at him. "I was just telling Teddy about going back to Hogwarts."

"You've got...a party...to organize." Remus whispered, and for a long moment Teddy didn't know what he was talking about. "Chester won't forgive you...if you...aren't there." It was then that Teddy remembered the deal that Chester had struck with the new Head of Gryffindor on their first evening back at Hogwarts. He turned to regard his father, lying in bed, still smiling up at him, and it occurred to Teddy that this was a good memory to have. Dad smiling. It would make a good last memory, if it had to come to that...

Better than the alternative, a crowd of panicking healers and Merlin knew what else...

"Will you save me...some chocolate?" Remus asked him, still smiling despite his wheezing, and Teddy knew then that there was only one thing to do: exactly what he father asked him to.

"Course I will, Dad." he said, and he delighted in Remus' smile growing before his eyes drifted shut again with a soft splutter.

Professor McGonnogal arrived first thing the following morning. Teddy was sent off to fetch his mother a cup of tea. At first she had requested coffee, only to rapidly change her mind because, for some reason the Head of Aurors couldn't quite fathom, her husband seemed dead set against such a choice of beverage. When Teddy returned some minutes later, he found the headmistress and his mother clustered around Remus' bed as the three of them spoke together in hushed voices. Teddy gave his mother a hug goodbye and then went to hug his father too. He wondered just what he should say to him, but Remus beat him to it:

"We don't go anywhere." he whispered, drawing back slightly and reaching to press a hand to Teddy's chest. "No matter...what happens to me...I'll stay right...here."

Teddy was determined not to cry, so he swallowed hard and nodded his understanding.

"Right here." he echoed, reaching forward to press his own hand to his father's chest, the steady heartbeat beneath his fingers comforting to him. They hugged once more, briefly, and Teddy was glad that he remembered to tell his father that he loved him.

Teddy had been right about going back to school. From the moment that he followed the Headmistress out of his father's room at the hospital, it didn't feel right. But he put on a brave face, because it was what Remus had wanted.

He'd skipped most of his lessons on the first day, and all but two on the second. None of the teachers seemed to notice, or if they did they didn't care, not even when Chester decided to skip double potions on the second afternoon to keep Teddy company.

"He could drop dead, Ches, at any minute." Teddy told his best friend for the sixth time that day.

The two boys had gone to sit upon the edge of the lake, Chester was busy throwing stones into the water as Teddy stared aimlessly at the ever growing circles of ripples that appeared as they hit the surface.

"I dunno, Teddy mate." Chester said uncertainly, not even sure how he ought pitch his voice, let alone what would be a useful thing to say. "I don't reckon he will. I reckon...I mean I know he's gonna be okay."

Teddy resisted the urge to ask how in Merlin's name Chester could "know", because despite the pointlessness of the statement the young metamorphmagus was grateful that his friend was trying. Instead he tried to distract himself with a topic that Chester would no doubt find easier to talk about.

"He says I have to save him some chocolate. You know, from the party? Mum gave me twenty galleons to buy sweets and stuff."

"Twenty galleons?"

"Yeah, cool isn't it?"

From Chester's expression, Teddy imagined that this was quite possibly the coolest thing that his best friend had ever heard, but quite suddenly Chester paused in his rock throwing and told Teddy:

"I told the others the party was canceled."

"That's okay," Teddy assured him, leaning back upon the grass and staring up at the cloudy sky. "We can just un-cancel it."

"Actually," Chester said, "I had a better idea. I was thinking...well...we can't have a party for our new Head of House if he isn't going to be there to yell at us when we get too loud and send us all off to bed, can we?"

Teddy wondered why Chester sounded so cheery whilst pointing out this fact.

"I guess not." he agreed heavily, and frowned when Chester grinned.

"Teddy," Chester said, jumping to his feet. "I have a really cool idea!"

It was seven o'clock in the evening when a healer came into Remus' room with a letter that had been addressed to him in vaguely familiar, messy handwriting. The professor allowed his wife to open the envelope, unfold the letter and read it to him aloud.

"_Dear Profess Lupin,_

_Since you have been taken ill, Gryffindor House has held a meeting in our common room and we have decided to postpone the party which was to be held on Saturday evening. We have come to the conclusion that we cannot possibly risk throwing a party whilst our Head of House is not here to keep an eye on us all. We do not want to risk the wrath of Professor McGonnogal and ruin our chances of winning the House Cup. _

_Please be aware that Professor Addlesford is teaching your classes whilst you are away, and as fond as we are of her, we are not entirely convinced that she knows exactly what she is talking about. The fourth years would like to know if you agree with them that being able to draw an anatomically accurate cornish pixie is in no way even slightly beneficial to their magical education, and the first years ask if they may ignore the homework she has set them on red caps because even the most stupid of Slytherins know that we don't study them until our second year. Please come back to work as soon as possible. _

_We understand that you are very unwell, however, so do not come back too quickly because we would like our Head of House returned to us in full working order. It may be some time until you are back here at Hogwarts and so we have sent the Head Girl to speak to the Headmistress about a little school trip that we would like to organize. It shall be a landmark event in Hogwarts history, the first ever outing for students outside of Hogsmeade village! As you know, we here in Gryffindor House are not the most patient of students (not to name names, but the Bennet twins, Chester Burton and Rory Dipper might spring to mind,) and we don't think that we can wait long enough to have the party that you promised. Since it is vital that you are around to oversee the proceedings, we have decided that if you cannot come to our party, we will bring our party to you._

_Enclosed is a parental consent form, please sign and return it so that Teddy can join the rest of us at our party to celebrate the fact that we have a brilliant new Head of House. _

_Sincerely,_

_The Students of Gryffindor House_

_PS. Please thank Mrs. Lupin for her generous contribution to our party fund. We have persuaded Professor Flitwick to visit Honeydukes for us." _

When inspected, Tonks discovered the consent form to read:

_I, _ do hereby give permission to my son/daughter/ward, _ to attend the following school event._

_Event: Gryffindor House's Head of House Celebration_

_Place: The Visitor's Cafe, St. Mungo's Hospital_

_Date: To be confirmed by the Head Healer of the Poisons Department at St. Mungo's Hospital, dependent on Professor Lupin's rate of recovery._

_Signature of Parent/Gaurdian: __

Minerva McGonnogal had never received such a swift response from a group of students who had each been presented with a blank consent form, and as the signed pieces of parchment began to pile up on her desk the Headmistress of Hogwarts was beginning to wonder if she was making a big mistake. There was a reason why nothing like this trip had ever been seen before in the school's history: It was madness. Complete and utter madness.

And to take a group of students...a bunch of rowdy Gryffindors, no less...into a hospital...!

As she continued to tick names off a list, grimacing at a couple of them and feeling downright despairing at a few others, she couldn't help but feel that Dumbledore would have approved.

The date was finally set a week later, when it was reported that the poison had finally been cleared from Remus' lungs and he was beginning the final stages of treatment. Teddy had been to visit a couple of times and, though still rather short of breath, he was delighted to find that his father could manage full sentences in a single breath and had taken to having a single nap in the afternoon rather than one that seemed to last almost all day long. He had even laughed quite merrily when Teddy had told him about the students' disastrous attempt to hold Duelling Club without him – the Great Hall had been reduced to something resembling a rather upper class junk shop and by the time Professor McGonnogal was done with them each student found themselves in detention every night for a week.

The party itself, though quite an alarming spectacle for the staff and visitors of St. Mungo's Hospital, passed in a rush of sugar, laughter and cheerful frivolity and the Headmistress was just beginning to think that she was going to get away with her short bout of insanity when, whilst she had disappeared out into the corridor for a brief moment of peace, chaos ensued.

At the sudden whooshing noise, Tonks looked up from the paper plate that she was busy rolling up into a tight tube. Her eyes widened.

"Umm...Remus?" she called, eyes fixed upon the scene before her as she reached with a blind hand to tap her husband sharply on the shoulder.

From his position sat just beside her in a wheelchair, Remus opened his eyes, giving himself a little shake to wake himself up.

He wondered why he bothered. The sight that met his eyes was more than enough to jerk him fully awake.

"Oh Merlin..." the professor breathed.

It was as though a snowstorm of red and gold glitter had suddenly swept into the cafe. It was so thick that Remus could barely make out the figures stood in the middle of it, a blurry mass of cheering Gryffindor students.

"Where's Minerva?" he wondered aloud, and Tonks shrugged.

"No idea. So...that's gotta be worth at least a month's detention, right? What are you gonna do?"

Remus squinted into the midst of red and gold, and he was sure that in the center, bobbing up and down in time to the Weird Sisters that had begun to blare out of...he wasn't quite sure where, was a shock bright turquoise hair.

The professor smiled.

"I'm going to go back to bed." he decided, and with that the two Lupins made a discreet move towards the door.

_Note: Yes, it's a silly ending but it was FUN, so *blows raspberry!* I hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you for reading! And to those of you who take the time, thank you for reviewing too! =)_


	15. Any Questions?

_Note: Because Messer Moony asked nicely! =) I actually liked ending on the last chapter, but I suppose one last chapter doesn't hurt!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing._

**15: Any Questions?**

Teddy Lupin and Chester Burton joined the crowd of Gryffindor students as they filed out of the classroom door, glad that the two hours of boredom that had eaten away at their evening was finally over.

"I shall see you all here again tomorrow." Professor McGonnogal announced as they shuffled past her, and a collective grumble swept it's way through the crowd. "It's you're own fault," the Headmistress reminded them sharply as Teddy and Chester turned to walk down the corridor. "We're going to keep on like this until somebody tells me who is responsible for that disgraceful display! Do any of you realize how lucky it was that Professor Lupin had left the room? Party dust...! Honestly! If he'd managed to inhale a good lungful of that we'd be without your Head of House for at least another week! Disgraceful, inconsiderate behavior!"

"Professor Lupin wouldn't have made such a huge fuss of it." a fourth year boy muttered from somewhere near Teddy's elbow. "I bet he's sitting in that hospital bed having a right laugh about it..."

"Tuck that shirt in, Mr. Lincoln!" McGonnogal barked, and Teddy heard the boy mutter a particularly rude name under his breath.

Chester folded his arms moodily across his chest as they headed towards the staircase.

"How long did you say it was until he gets discharged?" he asked the professor's son, as Teddy regarded his wristwatch with a deep frown.

"Mum says they might let him out today if he passes all their breathing test thingys, but McGonnogal's giving him a few days to stay at home if he wants to. I reckon he'll be back really soon, Mum went back work on Monday so he's been sat in that room on his own for days, everybody's been at work you see, he must be bored not having many visitors."

"Hey! Teddy!" a voice from behind the two boys called, and they turned to see fifth year Joseph Newman pushing his way past a couple of first years, a broad grin upon his face. "Is it true you hexed Lysander Rowle right in the face?" he asked excitedly, and immediately the crowd around them erupted into conversation.

"Wow, that's bloody amazing!"

"Cool!"

"I heard Rowle tried to escape on a broom, but one of the Aurors set it on fire..."

"Is it true they tried to force feed you owl droppings?"

"That's disgusting!"

"It's silly!"

"Did you really hex him in the face? Lysander Rowle? Right in the face?"

"Is it true he's nearly as big as Hagrid is?"

"Did it send him flying like..._crash_!"

"I mean come on...owl droppings? Which idiot told you that?"

Teddy and Chester exchanged a bewildered glance. Chester gave a shrug.

"Just go with it, mate." he suggested with a grin, and with that they rounded the corner and made for the final staircase up towards Gryffindor Tower.

The students of Gryffindor House filed into their common room to discover their Head of House busy pinning a notice to the board beside the window.

"Wow...that was quick of him!" Chester murmured, sounding very much relieved.

Teddy was not entirely sure that he felt quite as glad to see his father back at work as his friend did. Surely, the boy thought a little worriedly as the students hurried to gather around, talking amongst themselves and greeting the professor with enthusiasm, if he could take a few days off he ought do just that, to be on the safe side...

Especially when he appeared incapable of shouting loud enough to bring at least a shred of order to the raucous crowd, who were intent on celebrating his return loud enough to wake up the Slytherins down in the dungeons. Chester began to lead a chorus of: "We are the Lions of Gryffindor, and our Head of House is better than yours, better than yours, better than yours!" a chant that had been sung almost continuously in the school corridors when Teddy and Chester had announced that Remus had agreed that they could have a party.

Then again, Teddy mused as he watched Remus reached to draw the wand from his pocket, expression one of exhaustion at the sound, his father had never been one to shout. As it had done back in the Great Hall at the start of term feast, a loud bang accompanied by a shower of red and gold sparks was by far a more efficient call for order.

Silence fell over the room and Remus reached to point at the notice that he had just tacked to the wall.

"This is a message from Professor Addlesford," he informed the students, voice quiet enough that those at the back had to strain to hear him. "All Defense homework assignments have been canceled, with the exception of the sixth years' essays which were set on my behalf on Monday. I will resume teaching first thing tomorrow morning. Does anybody have any questions?"

One of the fourth years raised a hand.

"Yes Rory?" the professor said, and Teddy couldn't help but feel that he was suppressing a sigh.

Rory Dipper cleared his throat loudly, and a few of his fellow fourth years sniggered.

"Yeah...I was wondering Professor, do you know exactly how to draw an anatomically correct cornish pixie?"

Remus could suppress the sigh no longer.

"No, Rory, I can't say that I do." Rory opened his mouth to say something else, only for the werewolf to ask: "Does anybody _else _have a question?"

"What does it feel like getting poisoned?" a voice from the back of the crowd called.

"A _sensible_ question relating to Defense homework or classes." Remus clarified, and at last there was silence. "In which case I suggest you all go to bed." he said, reaching to shove the wand back into the pocket of his robes and walking slowly towards the door. He was just about to disappear through the portrait hole when a quiet voice behind him announced:

"I have a sensible question."

Remus turned to regard the turquoise haired boy with a questioning look.

"How are you?" Teddy asked him, eyes scrutinizing.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I mean, do you think teaching tomorrow is a good idea...?"

"Merlin," Remus shot his son a smile and turned back to the doorway. "You're worse than your mother..."

"D-ad!" Teddy reached to grab hold of his arm, halting his father's escape.

"Honestly Teddy, I'm absolutely fine. Now go on, get to bed."

It was clear to Teddy that there would be no changing his father's mind, and so he obediently followed the rest of the students up towards the dormitories.

Bored and not in the least bit tired, the child retrieved the Marauders' Map from his trunk and sat under the blankets on his bed, watching a pair of footprints labeled Remus Lupin move across the parchment under the soft glow of wand light.

Remus appeared to come to a halt at the bottom of a staircase and remained there for several minutes.

"What're you doing?" Teddy whispered aloud, frowning deeply. After another few minutes, staring at the immobile dot, the child was past feeling curious and was bordering on worried. He carefully drew the covers back from his head and climbed out of bed, reaching to snatch up his dressing gown. As he pulled the garment around his shoulders, he wondered whether or not to wake Chester up, but decided against it, his best friend appeared to be fast asleep, snoring softly in the bed next to his own.

It took some time for Teddy to make his way through the darkened corridors of the school, on a couple of occasions he had to make diversions to avoid Professors Vector and Flitwick who, judging from their movements, were taking their turn at patrolling the corridors. Throughout Teddy's creeping progression, Remus did not appear to move an inch. As he neared his father's position, the boy began to feel more and more worried. What if he had passed out or fallen on the staircase? What if the healers had made a mistake, letting him out of the hospital...

It was just as Teddy was busy gladly observing that Madam Pomfrey was still moving around the Hospital Wing that he suddenly realized that he had reached the top of the staircase. Drawing in a deep breath, the young Gryffindor lowered the map that he had been squinting at under his nose and looked down the stairs.

Remus was sitting upon the bottom step, bent forward as if examining something upon the floor. As Teddy hurried down the steps, not caring that his footfalls echoed around the walls, the professor did not bother to glance round.

"You ought be...asleep, Teddy." he murmured as the boy came to a halt just behind him. Teddy felt a lump form in his throat to hear him pause for breath mid-sentence.

"How'd you know it was me?" the boy asked, before deciding that it didn't really matter, there were more pressing questions to ask, possibly the most important one being: "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." the professor assured him, and Teddy stepped down a couple of steps and dropped down beside him. It was then that Teddy discovered what Remus was looking at. Upon the floor at his feet was a small brown paper bag that, from what Teddy could see, was empty. Remus was busy unscrewing the lid from a small glass bottle of silvery powder.

"What's that?" he asked, as Remus set the lid down upon the floor and reached for the paper bag.

"The healers gave it...to me when I left...this morning." Remus told him, and Teddy watched him carefully pour a small measure of the powder into the bag. He proceeded to lift the paper bag to his face and inhale deeply. After only a couple of breaths, the werewolf began to cough violently.

Teddy flinched.

"Maybe I should...fetch Madam Pomfrey or...something..."

"No," Remus told him a long moment later when he was suitably recovered, voice muffled by the bag. "You just go back to bed." He went back to inhaling the powder, and Teddy was relieved to find that he did not cough or splutter.

"Are you sure?" Teddy asked, biting his lip worriedly.

Remus lowered the bag from his face, his lips appeared to have gone rather pale and silvery.

"I'm very sure Teddy, this is completely normal, it's nothing to worry about. See? I'm better already..." No sooner had he spoken before another spluttering cough escaped his lips.

Teddy reached to pat him comfortingly on the arm.

"You won't always be like this, will you?" he asked, crossing his fingers hopefully in his lap.

"Of course I won't. Merlin, Teddy, we don't recover from near death experiences overnight, you know!"

Teddy shuddered, and Remus pressed his lips together as if he regretted speaking.

"I didn't really think you were going to die." Teddy told him, ignoring the voice inside his head that screamed: _Liar! _He watched the werewolf inhale another few breaths before shifting closer to his side and asking: "What did you think? Did you think you were going to die?"

"I may have considered the possibility, yes."

Teddy wanted to ask Remus if the prospect of death had frightened him, but the professor said:

"You should get to bed. I booked the Quidditch pitch for an hour before lessons tomorrow, I expect Cassandra will want to drag you down there as soon as the sun is up."

"You WHAT?" Teddy cried, jerking upright and positively scowling. "Are you mental, Dad? What in Merlin's name did you go and do that for?"

Remus reached to stuff the paper bag into his pocket and got heavily to his feet.

"You've already absolutely obliterated Gryffindor's chances of winning the House Cup this year." he reminded the boy, causing Teddy's hair to redden considerably.

"That wasn't me! I swear, I've not even been to Zonko's recently!"

"I'll be damned if I have to watch Slytherin take the Quidditch Cup too." Remus went on, as if Teddy had not spoken. "I want my house to _win_!" And with that, the professor turned on his heel and set off up the corridor.

**The Absolute End**

**(Until next time, of course!)**


End file.
